Luna High
by keelafairie
Summary: You all know and love the characters of The Lunar Chronicles. But what would happen if they where part of the second era... and went to high school? (Note- I originally posted this story on Wattpad, and I have no idea how this website works) Rated T for some violence/slight gore in later chapters
1. Luna High

You all know and love the characters of The Lunar Chronicles. But what would happen if they where part of the second era... and went to high school?

Cinder has never been to high school before, ever since the car crash that claimed her leg and hand when she was eleven, she'd been home-schooled. But one day everything changes, and her life is turned upside down. After enrolling into Luna High she discovers things, things she never knew before.

Secrets are suddenly revealed about Cinder's past, and ones about her friends' too.

How will they deal with this dark, and dangerous knowledge they've found?

Find out in Luna High!

(In case your wondering, this is .chronicles on Instagram)

Started- October 1, 2015

Completed- October 1, 2016


	2. 1- Welcome to Luna High!

Hey peoples! Welcome to my small little fanfiction, I don't really have much to say right now?

(I'm sorry!)

So usually I put a small authors note at the begging and end of each chapter, since this is the very first chapter I really don't know what to say. (I already said that, didn't I?)

I also put a song at the beginning so ya'll can listen to music I think suits the story.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy!

I put a small FMA reference in this chapter, so that's where the song comes from. (Btw, you should totally watch that show!)

 _Song- Again, by Yui (English cover)_

• _ **Cinder•**_

 **I** woke to an incredibly excited fourteen-year-old bursting into my room, her chestnut curls bouncing around her pretty face.

"Cinder! Are you awake yet?" she whispered quite loudly.

"Now I am." I mumbled into my pillow.

"Oh, I'm sorry! You where still asleep, weren't you?"

I sat up, sighing as I turned on the lamp next to my bed. "No, Peony, I was just laying down on my bed with my eyes closed and the lights off."

Though my voice was heavy with sarcasm, she hardly noticed.

"So what are you going to wear? It's finally your first day at Luna High!" Suddenly gasping, she jumped next to me on the bed. "Do you think we'll have any classes together? Oh, I hope we do! And I have to show you Kai, you'll love him _immediately_!" I rolled my eyes. Kaito was the most popular guy in school — and also the son of the richest man in town, possibly the country.

She continued to ramble as I got up, slipping on my fake leg. You see, I'm missing my left leg and hand. It happened in a car crash when I was eleven, also wiping my memory of the time before then. The prosthetics I used where this new weird thing called nerve... something or whatever. The point is that they can sense your brain waves through this small wire that they put along your arm/leg leading to your nervous system. Lots of those anime fans are calling it "the first step to Automail". It gives you a small control over the prosthetics, but the technology is still very new — so it's still filled with lots of flaws. Like the movement being a bit off, and limbs moving a bit slower than they should.

"Peony, I know your excited. But your only in 9th grade, I'm going into 10th. It's not impossible but it's highly unlikely that I will get any classes with you."

She pouted, "Right..."

"Now can you please leave so I can get dressed?" I asked. She nodded, then happily skipped out of my room. I smiled, her optimistic nature could be contagious at times.

I looked out the window, my eyes widened. Spinning on the balls of my feet, I ran to look at my clock.

It read 3:15 A.M.

"PEONY!"

• • •

 _The school building is huge_ , that was my first thought as I walked down the sidewalk with Peony dragging me by my right hand. My messenger bag swung by my hip. I was wearing some plain blue jeans and a thin black jacket over my oil-stained t-shirt. I had a glove on my left hand, one similar to those fingerless ones only it covered my whole hand. I never knew why, but people always seemed to look down on those who had fake limbs.

Suddenly Peony's face lit up. "Come on, Cinder! You have to meet someone!" She led me to a young girl, she was small for a high schooler — and her platinum blonde hair was pulled into a long braid reaching just past her waist. Her skin was so pale it was snow-like. She had blue eyes and a faint splash of freckles across her nose. She wore a simple light blue dress that went down to her knees.

"Cress!" Peony shouted.

"Good morning Peony," The girl said sweetly.

"Cress, this is my older sister Cinder." Peony pulled me forward to stand beside her.

"H-hi..." Cress whispered shyly, looking down.

"Ugh, don't be so shy all the time Cress. Cinder's not going to kill you or anything." Peony scowled jokingly at her.

"It's nice to meet you, Cress." I smiled at the shy girl, and she managed to give a small grin back.

"Cress started going to school here a few weeks after the start of the year. She was home-schooled 'till then, but she's in your grade!"

"Really? It's nice to know I'll at least know _someone_ in my classes."

"Oh," Peony piped in. "What where you doing over here, Cress? We usually meet in the library."

"Um... I-I-" Her face turned a bright red, and a grin formed on Peony's face.

She hopped around Cress, and put a hand above her eyes as if she where on the lookout for something. "I see why you're here!" Turning to face the blushing girl, in a teasing voice she said "Captain Carswell Thorne is right by that tree over there, looking ever so handsome!" She started fanning her face with her hand, as if she was about to faint. But I looked over, and sure enough, there was a guy — probably a bit older than us — surrounded by a bunch of girls and athletic-looking dudes.

"B-be quiet, Peony! That's supposed to be a secret!" Cress's face grew redder — if that where even possible.

"Peony, stop picking on Cress. I'd say your a hundred times worse about Kaito." I grinned at her expression. Immediately she went into fangirl mode. I would tell you what she said, but I would really like for you to be spared from years worth of ramble about how "his eyes sparkled" and "his smile was like the sun in a universe of darkness".

"Come on Peony, the first bell is about to ring. We have to get to class." I said, cutting off her ramble.

She sighed, "Fine, Cinder."

"Which class do you have first?" Cress asked me as Peony bounced off, immediately to be joined by a bunch of girls her own age. Looks like she was pretty popular here.

"Let's see..." I pulled out my already crumpled schedule. "It looks like I have English first."

She smiled, "I have the same!"

"Let's go, then!"

Suddenly the minute-bell rung, and her expression turned to panic. "Oh stars, we have to go. It's on the other side of campus!"

My eyes widened, not good. We exchanged one glance and sprinted into the school and through the halls. Then something even worse happened.

We turned the corner, and _BAM!_ We slammed right into two people.

Something clicked in my left ankle, double not good. I could no longer feel my foot, thankfully the rest of my leg wasn't affected. But still, I'll have to go the day with a big limp.

"I'm so sorry!" Cress said, jumping to her feet to help the two guys up. Her eyes widened slightly when she saw who we ran into. I kinda felt bad for Cress, sitting on the ground in front of her was Carswell Thorne. He took her hand gratefully.

"Thanks!" he said, flashing her a smile. I thought poor Cress was about to explode.

"Hey, are you okay?" the guy who I accidentally ran into asked. He already stood up, and now held his hand out to me. I took it, knowing I'd need it because of my ankle.

"Yeah, I'm sorry. We should've been watching where we where going." I had to balance carefully on my right leg, and hoped it wasn't too obvious that I was hardly standing on my left one.

"I should be the one apologizing, Cadet here decided to go get something from his car the minute the first warning bell rung." He was cute, he had an Asian look about him, his black hair was slightly messing and his smile was so bright- wait... Snap out of it Cinder!

"It's Captain!" The blonde shouted.

"I'm Kai, by the way." The Asian said. I suddenly understood where all the fangirling from Peony came from. (Not that I liked him or anything!)

"Well, I'm Cinder and this is Cress." I said, doing the polite thing and introducing myself. Cress was having her own little conversation with Thorne.

"I don't think I've seen you around before."

"It's my first day," I explained.

"Well, welcome to Luna High." He smiled, "It's nice to meet you."

"You too." Suddenly the tardy bell rung. All our eyes widened, and we started heading in the direction of ELA. I was mostly doing a very weird looking limp because of my ankle. But it appeared that I had English with Cress, Kaito and Thorne.

 _Next time- The First Day (Part 1)_

********Edited******** 

So that's the first chapter!

I don't have any other chapters written yet, but thats what deadlines are for! I promise to have the next one published in a week!

I hope you enjoyed, especially the Cresswell and Sekai (Cinder/Selene X Kai, because Sekai means The World)

If you liked this chapter please leave a comment and favorite or like or whatever it's called!

And I put a trivia question at the end of most chapters, so here's this chapters. Leave your answer in the comments!

 _ **Q-**_ _What is Winter's release date? (Because #WINTER IS COMING!)_

Kiki?


	3. 2- The First Day (Part 1)

(A/N of present-day author- Fyi, I might edit a few things out on these parts, such as authors notes that make absolutely no sense since this was originally posted on Wattpad)

 **POV- Cinder**

The boys burst into the classroom, with Cress and I following quickly behind.

"We're so so so so so sorry that we're late Mrs. Benoit!" Cress said immediately to the teacher, an older women.

She smiled a little, "Don't worry, Cress. I know you must have a good reason, the one thing I'm worried about is the reason you where with Kai and _Thorne_."

She looked down and blushed a little.

"We apologize, Mrs. Benoit. These two are late because we accidentally... Um, ran them over in the hall." Kai said, giving a nervous laugh.

The teacher sighed. "Please just take your seats." They obeyed. She looked back at me. "Ah, you must be the new student, Cinder. Why don't you take a seat near the back by Scarlet and Iko?"

"Yes ma'am." I went to the seat she had motioned to, it was in the last row in the corner by a window. The room was on the second floor, and the school was by a small forest - so the view was pretty nice.

Iko sat in front of me, her hair was in a bunch of braids - ranging from blue to purple. She had dark chocolate skin, and a perfect figure. The girl next to me had to be Scarlet. She had on a big blood-red hoodie (wow, I'm good at descriptions), and her hair was long, curly, and scarlet red.

Iko immediately turned around, smiling. "I can't believe it's you, Cinder!" She whispered excitedly.

I smiled, "Neither can I."

Iko and I where friends for a while when I first started living with Peony and her _disaster_ of a mother and sister (trust me, I'm pretty sure they're reincarnations of the devil!). Her mom worked as a maid for the Linh family at the time, at least until my stepdad died from this recently discovered skin cancer called Letumosis. There was a recent discovery that it's most common in the descendants of the victims, I just hope Peony doesn't get it. Pearl, on the other hand... No comment. **(A/N- *evil laugh***? **)**

Anyways, when Iko's mom was at our house cleaning she and I would play together. Sometimes she even tutored Peony in school.

Apparently it was the end of a six-week grading period, so the class was just to be spent catching up on late work. Since it was my first day, I didn't have anything. And neither did about half of the class, so we where given free time.

"Hey Scar, introduce yourself to Cinder!" Iko told Scarlet, who sighed and rested her head on her hands.

"I don't see the point, she already knows my name."

 _Wow,_ I thought. _Rude._

"Sorry Cinder, Scarlet has a bad habit of speaking her mind." Iko quickly apologized.

"I do not!" Scarlet replied, offended. "If you want me to be polite just say so."

I laughed, looking over where Cress was sitting. She was around the center of the classroom, with Kai behind her and Thorne diagonal to her. The poor girl was being pestered by Thorne to give him the answers to some homework.

We talked for a while, I discovered that the teacher was actually Scarlet's grandmother! Another girl named Émilie came over to talk to Scarlet, and started teasing her about this guy who sat at the front of class.

"Shut up Émilie!" Scarlet said. "Your the one who's a boy-freak."

She sighed, resting her elbows on the table. "How can I not? They're all so cute!"

With that we got into a discussion about the boys in class, and soon Cress came to join us. She sat in an empty desk by Iko. And I soon found out that Thorne was supposed to be a senior, he had been held back two grades! Apparently he had his heart set on becoming a squad captain in JROTC, and failed miserably every year.

Before we knew it the bell was about to ring.

"Hey, Cinder. What's your next class?" Iko asked. I showed her my schedule, it read this-

 _1st- ELA w/ Mrs. Benoit_  
 _2nd- Math w/ Mrs. Nainsi_  
 _3rd- History w/ Mr. Torin_  
 _4th- Science w/ Mr. Darnel_  
 _Mega Lunch_  
 **(A/N- For those of you who don't know, mega lunch is this thing at my school where lunch is 1 hour and there are clubs/tutorials in the A and B parts)**  
 _5th- PE w/ Ms. Sybil_  
 _6th- Health* w/ Mrs. Rockbell_  
 _7th- Theater w/ Mrs. Chelia_

 _*Special class_

"Dang it! We only have three classes together!" Iko whined.

"Stop complaining Iko," I said, laughing.

"It looks like I have three classes with you too." Scarlet said.

Cress smiled, "And I have four!"

The bell rung, "Well, it looks like I'm the only one with Math next. I'll see you in bit." I said, grabbing my stuff.

"Yeah, later Cinder!"

…

I walked into the Math classroom a few minutes later, when the one minute warning-bell rung. The classroom was about half-full, meaning either that tis was a small class - or not everyone was here.

A girl probably in her mid-twenties walked up to me. "I'm guessing your Miss Cinder?" She asked.

"Yes, Ma'am." I replied, a bit nervous at the fact I knew no one in here.

"Why don't you take a seat over there then, sweetie?" She motioned to a seat by the around the middle of the third row, and I went to sit there. She brought me a calculator and a notebook and was up at the front by the time the tardy bell rung.

As it was ringing I was caught by surprise. Kaito ran in. "I'm not late!" He half-shouted, and the teacher sighed.

"Kaito, how many times do I have to tell you that I don't appreciate you barging in at the last second?"

"But you won't count me tardy, right?" He asked hopefully.

She sighed, "No, Kai. But please be on time more often."

"Yes, Nainsi." He said, and walked down the isle. Stopping and sitting right next to me.

"Okay class. You know the drill. Take out any late or unfinished work - or test corrections - and finish them. I don't want anyone in my class failing the six weeks, got it?"

There was a small chorus of "yeses", then someone shouted "Can we work with partners?"

"You may work with partners, but no more than two per group!"

Kai smiled, and I could've sworn my heartbeat was loud enough to be heard throughout the whole classroom.

He turned to me, "Hey, could you help me with this?" He asked, holding up a piece of paper filled with math questions. They where all blank.

I sighed, "Why not."

I'd like to say I was completely calm and collected when I was working with him - but that would be a lie (at least for the first half of class).

As we went through class it became surprisingly easy to talk with him. By the the bell rung it felt as if the hour we where in there had been only mere seconds. And I left the room with a smile plastered to my face.

Wait...

Kaito Prince, the so called "emperor" of Luna high-

Could I be falling for him?

Ooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Cinder's falling for Kai!  
I'm such a Fangirl sometimes?

I apologize if there's any weird things or rushed parts in this chapter, I just watched some of the newly dubbed Fairy Tail 2014 (don't hate me, I just love Funimation dubs) and the first episode of Noragami Aragoto. Then I watched a small marathon of Fullmetal Alchemist. Yeah... I might have a small problem...  
But OMG THE FEELS OF THE FAIRY TAIL OPENING AND NALU! I just read this arc in the manga and I'm just sitting there trying not to cry (and failing) and omg when ******'s life was only worth *** ****** and then the clock was ticking in the opening and when **** died and **** **** ** **** because of ******'s sacrifice and then ****** thought it was for nothing but actually saved several peoples lives! And then when ****** **** died I was just sitting there crying.  
If you haven't watched Fairy tail you have no idea what I was talking about, even if you did watch it you where probably like "what the heck Kiki". Let me explain some, I was freaking out about what happened around the end of Grand Magic Games arc... Yeah...

Anyways, ya'll are probably sitting there bored with me now so I'll just put the question now.

 _Q- What does the name Carswell mean? (Thorne's first name)_

Oh! And before I forget, I decided that I'll be updating on Fridays, so that's probably going to be when you read the next chapter. I'm just feeling generous today.

Kiki?


	4. 3- The First Day (Part 2)

**POV- Iko**

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG! Cinder's finally going to our school! And even better, SHE HAS A FREAKING CRUSH ON KAI! I felt like crying, all of my OTP's where finally going to become cannon!

Okay Iko, calm down. But OMS (oh my stars), this was going to be just like a TV drama! I couldn't even be happier.

Okay, let me explained what happened. I was on the way to third period when I passed Cinder in the hall. She was _blushing_ and _smiling!_ Cinder never does either of those! Well, except for smiling _occasionally._

I of course went up to her, planning on teasing her.

"Cinder!" I shouted, tackling her from behind. She yelped, her legs giving way as she fell to the floor with me on top of her.

"Iko!" She shouted, while I laughed.

"Sorry, Cinder." I held back a giggle as I stood and helped her up. "So what where you smiling about?" I asked her teasingly, "Was it Kai Prince?"

She turned a bright scarlet red. "N-no! Of course not!"

I rolled my eyes jokingly, "You keep telling yourself that! You will fall for him eventually, there's no escaping his princely charms."

"Just shut up Iko, I have to get to my next class."

I sighed, "Fine, I'll see you at lunch Cinder!"

She started walking to her next class. And I was already devising my plan to make Kaider happen... Muahahahahahahahahaha!

 **POV- Cinder**

I sighed, my next class was science with Mr. Darnel. He was apparently Cresses dad (what's with everyones parents working at the school?). Anyway, it seemed that I had Kai in history too. But not Science.

I walked in and the teacher sat me at the table with Cress. She was the only one without a partner.

"Her old one moved to a different class the other day." He explained.

Once again the class passed with nothing new. We had free time for about ten minutes near the end, and Cress and I just sat and talked.

 _Finally_ the lunch bell rung, we where only halfway through the day and already I was exhausted. No wonder most kids called school _"hell on earth"_. How did people do this every day?

I was walking out of the classroom with Cress and Scarlet (who also had the class, just sat at the opposite side of the room), when Peony and Iko came bounding down the hall at top speed.

"Cinderrrrrrrrrrrrr!" They yelled in unison, each grabbing one of my arms.

"Is it true, Cinder? Do you really have a crush on Kai Prince!" She asked excitedly with a smile plastered onto her face.

"Umm, I-I-" My face grew red, how did Iko get Peony dragged into this? I thought _she_ was the one with the huge crush.

"You do!" She squealed, and she and Iko started jumping up and down shouting "Kaider, Kaider, Kaider!"

"Wh-what?" I asked.

"Um, nock it off you guys!" Cress squeaked, trying to make things better. Bad move.

"Oh my stars, Iko!" Peony suddenly gasped.

"What is it Peony?" She asked.

"We're forgetting completely forgetting about Cresswell and Wolflet!"

Scarlet and Cress groaned.

"I thought you where over that?" Scarlet asked in disbelief.

"Sorry, nope!" They said in unison, laughing.

I rolled my eyes, "Whatever, ya'll go get your food, I'll find you guys in a bit."

"Why? Where are you going Cinder?" Cress asked.

"Um, one of my teachers wanted me to come in during lunch to get a textbook. I'll only be minute." I lied.

"Okay then, we'll see you in a bit Cinder." Peony said cheerfully, grabbing Cress and Scarlet's wrist to drag them away to who knows where, with Iko following closely behind.

I sighed, then started making my way to my history classroom. When I was in the same hallway I turned at the last minute into the girls bathroom. This area was pretty far from the cafeteria, so the hallways, classrooms, and bathrooms where deserted.

I hauled myself onto the counter. Unlike the one on the other wall, this one had no sinks. It was probably for girls to put on their makeup without crowding up the sink area.

I pulled my left ankle onto my knee, folding up my jeans a bit and pushing my sock down. I started examining my ankle, I probably shouldn't have let it stay disconnected for so long. That wasn't very good for the prosthetic. It looked as if it was bent to much upward, and disconnected a wire from the ankle area. I plugged the wire back in and straitened the foot, making sure it was secure. Sliding off of the cabinet, I froze.

Standing right there was Scarlet, Cress, Iko, and Peony.

Scarlet and Cress looked shocked, while Iko and Peony just stood there as if this was normal (for Peony, it was).

Iko smirked, "I thought you had to get some textbooks?"

I rolled my eyes at her, "Why did you follow me?"

"I thought that you went to see Kai of course!"

"Iko!"

"What?"

Scarlet finally spoke, "Um, am I the only one that realizes that she has a metal foot?"

Peony smiled, "Actually it's leg, and her hand."

I sighed, "Gee, tell them all of my secrets, will you?"

She looked confused. "What? I thought everyone knew that you have steel prosthetics."

"Yeah, and that's why they treat me so badly."

"What? I thought that they where just rude people!" She looked genuinely shocked.

"Peony, they think that having fake limbs is a crime or something like that!"

"Can I say something?" Cress asked, raising her hand slightly. I motioned for her to speak. "Well, um. We don't really care about that — the fake limbs, I mean. We where just a bit shocked, that's all."

"R-really?" I asked in disbelief.

"Pft, if I cared about things like that, I might as well throw away my own personality." Scarlet said.

I smiled. "It's nice to know someone feels that way, let's go eat lunch now."

"I don't know," Iko said as we left the bathroom. "There are some vending machines around the corner, maybe we should just eat over here."

"Yeah," Cress agreed. "I actually really like this hallway."

I smiled, seeing what they meant. One side of the hall was pretty much just a huge window, with a door every now and then leading outside to a small courtyard/garden. The place was maintained by some gardening classes and a club. It had been cloudy all day, and now it was raining a bit; but it just gave the hallway a nice, dim, peaceful feel. Suddenly the there was a crash of thunder, and a streak of lightning rode across the sky. The lights flickered for a minute then went out. The absence of artificial light only made the deserted hallway even more beautiful.

Sooooo, there's the chapter. I'm wanting to creat a club with my friends at school, but the only thing I can think of is a club called H2O or Mako Girls, where we just sit down with other H2O/Mako fans and watch the whole show from start to finish at the club meetings and just enjoy one anothers commentary. But that probably won't get very many members...

So any club ideas? Please comment!

Anyway, here's the question is week.

 **Q-** _**Favorite book in the TLC series?**_

 **My answer-** _**Cress!**_


	5. 4- The First Day (Part 3)

**[Present-day author: Sooooo I decided to look through the parts I published and this ended up being a bunch of random numbers? Okay then?]**

What's up peoples?

So I don't have anything to say up front right now, really. But the song I chose for this chapter is really pretty, the girl who wrote it based it on Cinder!  
Anyways, enjoy the new chapter!

* * *

 **[Second note from present-day author: OMS YOU PRESS THIS BUTTON AND A THIN LINE APPEARS BETWEEN PARTS WTH HOW DID I NOT KNOW THIS?]**

 **POV- Cinder**

We spent our entire lunch period in that darkened hallway. When the power first went out we could hear the screams from the cafeteria all the way over here. Sometimes high schoolers are so immature. Cress was actually not that much better though...

There was an announcement on the schools speakers (which where _conveniently_ connected to a different power source...?) a few minutes later, saying that the power outage would last the rest of the day. I sighed, great.

"By the way," Scarlet spoke up. "We all have gym next, right?"

"Yeah, though I don't see why they put me in that class. Considering I'm most likely going to be sitting out the entire time anyways."

"Umm..." They looked at each other, chuckling nervously.

Cress sighed, looking up at me with... fear in her eyes? "Miss Sybil is my guardian most of the time, since my dad is always so busy with work. I don't know if I told you this or not already, but on the weekends and after school he goes to the lab to work on a cure for Letumosis. When he's gone... she's there."

I was confused. "But doesn't that mean you know her, so she should be nicer?"

"No, not really." Cress started messing with her hair, braiding and un-braiding. "She's very strict, not many of the students like her. She has a shorter day than the rest of the teachers, because theres no gym classes after fifth period. So she goes home earlier, and I'm not allowed out and about. And she grounds me if I'm not home by 5:00."

"Wow." I said. "That's harsh, Cress. Haven't you told your dad?"

"U-um, he's always so busy. And I don't want to bother him."

I sighed, of course.

"Oh well." Said Peony. "The five-minute warning bell is about to ring, I have classes on the other side of campus. I'll see you when school is over, Cinder!" She shouted, running down the hallway and waving.

Iko smiled. "Come on, we don't want to be late to the devil's class!"

"Yeah, who knows how many miles we'd have to run if we where!" Scarlet joked, laughing.

Cress just sat there smiling as we headed towards the gym.

 **...**

"Linh Cinder?" Sybil asked.

"Yes ma'am." I replied, smiling a bit. They where right, this women was _scary!_ Her eyes looked as if they could pierce your soul and read your very existence.

Rolling her eyes in disgust, she pointed over to a bench on the wall, where the people on the sports teams that weren't playing would sit. "Please sit there during most if the classes, I still expect you to dress out though. When I send everyone into the locker rooms to change, come see me in my office. I'll give you your uniform and a locker. But I still expect you to participate in things like basketball or volleyball." She sent me off with a flick of her hand, glancing with distaste at my leg and hand.

I nodded doing as she said. Looking over nervously at my friends, I saw them with worried expressions. I sent them a silent thumbs up to let them know I was alright — so far.

Sybil explained that they where going to be football and volleyball today, and briefly mentioned the new student — me.

I wen't to her office when the others where dressing out. She opened a storage closet and pulled down a large cardboard box, with different tops and bottoms piled inside.

I selected a silver and royal blue t-shirt and sweatpants, each had the symbol for Luna High on it. Syible then handed me a paper with a few numbers on it.

"This is your locker and the code, do not lose it." She said, turning to walk out of the office.

I sighed with relief when she was gone, "Yes, monster." I mumbled. She was so rude!

I left the office, heading to the girls locker room. I saw the boy's coach with the athletes, bringing them out to football. And yelling at the P.E guys to hurry up in the locker room.

I saw Kai and Thorne laughing with the other athletes. Kai caught me staring, and winked at me, waving. I quickly pushed back a blush and waved back, smiling. I had always been really good at hiding my emotions, I probably have only cried once or twice since I moved in with my step-family. When I did, it wasn't in front of Peony. I always had a smile on for her.

Thorne saw Kai waving and smirked, saying something to the poor boy. He instantly grew as red as a tomato and shouted "No I don't!" I laughed, wandering what sort of inappropriate thing the _cadet_ said.

Turning, I walked into the girls locker room. I frowned when I saw the locker number — R215.

"What the heck?" I whispered.

"Oh, there you are Cinder!" Iko said, rushing to me. She was already changed into her uniform — our shirts where the same, except hers was _way_ too big for her, and some silver gym shorts with the schools logo. "What's your locker number?"

I showed her the paper. A smile formed on her face.

"That's the same row that we're on!" She said, dragging me to the back of the locker room. She pushed me through a royal blue curtain, into the last isle of lockers.

"Welcome to the awesome people's row of lockers!" She said cheerfully.

"Um, could you explain the weird curtains?" I asked.

"You mean the 'privacy walls'? Last year lots of girls where complaining that there weren't any changing stalls, just the showers and toilets. So to try and solve that problem, the school added the curtains at the front of each locker row. Since we usually get to choose our lockers, they figured that we would choose lockers by our friends. So they thought that it would give the girls no room to complain."

"That makes no sense whatsoever." I stated.

"Yeah, at least we have our own little room to ourselves in this place. We're the only people in row R all day long. Now, let's see... Your lockers next to Cress's." She led me to the only empty locker in the isle.

"So Cress has locker R214?" I asked.

"Yep!" Iko replied cheerfully.

"Girls, lets go!" A loud, cold voice yelled.

"Um, I have to go. You should get dressed quickly, you do _not_ want to see her bad side."

"I can see." I said, laughing.

Quickly I changed, running out to meet Iko and the others. Immediately I was grabbed by the arm by Iko and dragged into the crowd of girls.

"Okay, girls. Today we're going to have a small competition. Two groups of two to five will volunteer and then have a small match against each other. Got it?"

There was a series of yeses heard from the girls. Several groups went, winning and losing. This was a competitive class! Lots of the girls where getting into loud arguments about who would win, and some where even betting random items. One girl was trying to bet twenty bucks!

Eventually most of the girls had already gone, leaving just a few more. Scarlet and Iko had already gone twice (being two of the most athletic girls in class), once they where on the same team, and then on opposing ones.

Soon a few of the boys burst in, having finished their workout early. Kai and Thorne where amongst them (of course).

"Hey!" Thorne yelled at Mrs. Sybil. "Can we play a round?" The girls started cheering.

I looked at Cress for an explanation. "Whenever they play they choose a girl to be on their team. It's always two-on-two so lots of girls really want to be chosen."

"Oh," I said. "That makes sense, I guess."

"They are two of the most popular guys in school."

Sybil sighed. "As long as you don't break anything, like last time."

The class started cheering, each girl wanting a chance to play alongside the boys.

Thorne ran up to Cress, grabbing her wrist and making her squeak from shock at the sudden action. "Hey, be my partner for this round." He said, smiling at the blushing girl.

"U-um, I-I-" He dragged her to the net, not accepting no for an answer.

"I guess that leaves me with you, Cinder." Kai said, smiling and holding out his hand.

"What do you mean?" I asked him, holding back the blush that _really_ wanted to appear.

"I'm afraid one of the others would hurt Cress, these games get violent whenever we play, for some reason. They don't hold back at all. You're her friend, right? I don't think you would go overboard."

"Yeah, okay." I said, taking his hand as he led me to the volleyball net.

This was certainly going to be an interesting match.

* * *

 _Next time~ Luna High Chapter 5, The First Day (Part 4) The Volleyball Game of Doom_

So that's the chapter! I'm sorry if a few parts are kinda rushed, I hardly had any time to write this week! But I'm keeping my promise about updating every Friday! (At least so far😅)

If you get the whole "Cress has locker R214" thing then your awesome. #Cresswell4Life!

Hint- What important thing in the series starts with and R and ends with 214?

So I have this idea for another TLC story called Luna Beach, here is the description/plot. Tell me if you think I should do it (but it would mean I could only update this every 2 weeks, unless I get ahead in my writing)

Plot- _It's three months after the Lunar Revolution, Cinder has finally claimed her rightful place on the throne as the Queen of Luna. Iko, being Iko, decides that Cinder and the rest of the crew need a break. So she goes behind their backs and gets tickets to_ La Luna _, a magnificent five-star resort in Jamaica — in the middle of the blue Caribbean sea. After all the trouble that Iko went through for the tickets, they find it hard to refuse her offer. Only one problem, Iko has planned much more than a simple trip to the beach._

So in the story, most of the characters shy away from their soul mates (even though it's so obvious that they love each other😏), so even though they are canon, after the war they kinda go their separate ways. The only couple that still sees each other is Cress and Thorne ('cause Thorne decided to take Cress on a trip around the world, but they still don't consider themselves a couple)

Tell me if you think I should write it.

 _Q- Favorite TLC ship?_

 _A- Cresswell!_

Bye now!

Kiki🌙


	6. 5- The First Day (Part 4)

**5~ The First Day (Part 4) The Volleyball Game of Doom**

Hey guys!

I am probably going to have waaaaaaaaaaaaay too much fun writing this chapter. I mean, a chapter called The Volleyball Game of Doom? It's gonna be awesome! Oh, did y'all see the new cover for the book, what do you guys think?  
Oh, and funny story. Like, my only two friends and I where walking in the hall during lunch. And both of my friends are pretty short — compared to me at least, I'm freakishly tall for my age?. Anyway, the shorter one (I'm just going to call her Kinzie) was walking close to the left wall, and we where about to walk past a stairwell (because my high school is two stories). And all the sudden this really tall guy comes around the corner from the stairs — seriously though, he was like twice Kinzie's height. Probably a senior! (We're only freshmen) And he just runs into her, like as soon as he turns the corner. And she squeaked! And it was really awkward, he had one or two other guys with him and was like "On my god! I'm so sorry!" before we moved along and started laughing because Kinzie squeaked. And the funny thing is, she sounded the same way I imagined Cress. And I told her "You sounded just like Cress when she saw Thorne on the netscreen at the beginning of Cress!" And my other friend (let's just call her FireHeart because she loves Warriors) just looked at me like "Of course you bring The Lunar Chronicles into this." And I just looked at FireHeart like "Don't you know me? I always bring TLC into 'this',"  
Yeah, so that happened.  
Anywho, lets get back to this awesome story!

P.S. I don't really know how to play volleyball, or anything about it other than you have to hit the ball back and forth. The closest I get to playing volleyball is hitting a beachball over a volleyball net at a beach, so sorry to all of the volleyball players out there

 **POV- Cinder**

I got into the starting position for the first round. I was the one serving this time, so I had to make it perfect.

"Ready Kai?" I asked, about to toss the ball into the air.

"Yeah."

I looked at Cress through the netting, she slightly nodded — making sure I knew that she was ready. The poor girl looked so awkward and out of place in the court.

I tossed the volleyball into the air, hitting it over the net with my opposite hand. It flew through the air for a few seconds before Thorne spiked it, giving Kai only a few seconds to react. He managed to hit the ball, but at an angle so that it bounced off the net.

"Ugh," He mumbled, running his fingers through his hair. He was obviously frustrated by losing that shot.

Thorne snickered, walking grab the sphere from where it rolled. "Our turn to serve!" He called, then moved to the position needed to do so. He threw the ball into the air, throwing his hand down on the pitiful object with full force — sending it flying over the net.

Rushing to the side, I responded quickly by diving to the side and smacking it back over the net. Cress squeaked with fear as the ball came towards her, she held up her hands to try and block the incoming asteroid. I mentally cursed myself for hitting the thing towards Cress. She caught the ball, preventing it from smashing her nose in and giving us a point.

"Are you okay Cress?" I asked.

"Yeah!" She replied, tossing the ball back to me.

"Kai, wanna serve this time?" I asked, holding the volleyball out to him.

"Sure," He said, taking the ball. He then tossed it slightly into the air, the spiked it as hard as he could over the net. The only problem was that he hit the ball awkwardly, causing it to fly towards Cresses side — again.

Not-so-fortunately Thorne knew better than to stand by and let Cress handle it, so he quickly swooped to hit it. He did do as he intended, but because he went so fast he ended up losing his balance — falling right on top of Cress. I put my hands over my mouth to stifle my laugh. Yeah, I was worried about my friend — but the situation was so awkward and cute... No. Stop Cinder. You can't turn into Iko — who I could hear squealing like a dying animal from the crowd of girls.

When Thorne and Cress realized their position (Thorne, laying across Cresses stomach. Preventing her from moving.) they both blushed a deep red, Thorne quickly removing himself from on top of the small girl. They both sat there for a few seconds, there faces redder than tomatoes. Eventually Thorne stood, holding out his hand to Crescent. She shyly took his hand, standing back up.

"Umm," Kai said. "I think that's enough volleyball for today." He held in a laugh.

"I agree," Sybil then came out of her office.

"Alright, the bell rings in ten minutes. You can all go get dressed now." After that she went straight back to her office, to play on her phone or something.

I started to go towards the girls dressing room, and Kai started going towards the guys. But I heard his footsteps stop, then come quickly closer to me. He grabbed my wrist.

"Um, Cinder?"

"Hm, yeah?" I asked, turning around.

He was blushing! "Um, would you like to- maybe, go out sometime this weekend? Tomorrow possibly?"

Today was Friday, a really odd day for me to start school. But it was more of a day to prepare myself for the rest of the time I had to spend here.

"Oh, um. Sure, I guess." This was getting awkward, but he smiled sweetly when he hear my answer.

"Okay, how about we meet at about nine in front of Sertinio's to arrow morning?" He asked.

I smiled, Sertinio's was my favorite coffee shop, it was locally owned and the owner had the same prosthetic limbs as me, only just her right leg.

"Sure," I replied. "Sertinio's is my favorite!"

We shared a small smile, before turning away and heading to the locker rooms to change for sixth and seventh period.

 **...**

"He _what?_ " Iko asked excitedly as she followed me down the hall. "You have a date with the most popular guy in school! He could be royalty for all we know!" She was having one of her moments, suddenly leaning dramatically against the wall and putting the back of her hand to her forehead. "I feel faint, one of my OTP's is _finally_ becoming canon!"

"Calm down Iko, it's just a small date. I hardly know him!"

We eventually arrived at my classroom, I had health with Mrs. Rockbell. It was a specially class that my doctor came to the school for — to make sure that my prosthetics where functioning properly and I was taking care of them. That class passes quickly, soon it was seventh period. The class I had everyone in.

It was theater, I know. Cliché class for everyone to be in together. But it was a [kinda] required class. We all had to take a class for Art credit, theater was one of the Arts.

Only one problem, _everyone_ but Peony was in this class — including Pearl.

Sooooo there's the chapter! I was bored so I thought I would update this today. Anywho, there's school tomorrow...? ﾟﾘﾫ?

Someone save me from that hell on earth! It's filled with idiots!

Kiki?

P.S.- I updated early because why not?

P.P.S.- For some odd reason Wattpad decided to change this story's language category to Japanese...?

 **[Present-day author stepping in with a small note: Sorry it's taking me so long to update, I am still having a hard time adjusting to this website's layout... oops? Not to mention how cringe-worthy this writing actually is. Oh well, around three years have passed since I wrote this, no wonder I cringe so much while reading it]**


	7. 6- The First Day (Part 5)

6~ The First Day (Part 5) A Life-Changing Event

 **POV- Cinder**

I walked into the PAC (Preforming Arts Center) with Iko dragging me to the seats in front of the stage.

"Mrs. Chelia!" She called to a young women, probably in her early twenties. She was pretty, with two ponytails falling over her shoulders and a dark reddish-scarlet hair. Her brown eyes also had a faint trace of reddish-pink.

She smiled, "What is it, Iko?"

"This is Cinder, she's new in our class."

The teacher smiled at me. "It's nice to meet you, Cinder. Where are you moving here from?" She asked, holding out her hand.

"Actually I've pretty much always lived here, I was just homeschooled." I replied, shaking her hand.

"Well then, looks like we're both new here."

I looked at Iko for some answers. "She just recently graduated from collage, so it's her first year teaching. And she was just hired a few weeks ago when our old teacher all the sudden quit."

"Oh, that must have been rough."

"Actually, no. The old teacher was a jerk."

The teachers eyes softened. "I'm sure he wasn't that bad-"

"When someone was caught talking, even if it was to just ask a question about the assignment, he would give them a five page monologue and give them five minutes to read over it then they would have to preform it memorized for a test grade in front of the whole class." She said plainly.

"..."

"Well then, Cinder," Mrs. Chelia broke the awkward silence. "Why don't you go find a seat, we're doing improv today. Since it's the end of the six weeks I wanted to do something a little fun."

"Thanks Mrs.-"

"Just Chelia is fine." She said.

"Thanks Chelia."

Iko and I went to take a seat next to Cress and Scarlet. A few minutes later _the devil_ walked in. With the tardy bell ringing a second later. Pearl immediately walks over to were Kai and Thorne where sitting, the seats right in front if us in the front row.

"Kaito! Where where you today at lunch? You weren't at our table, you know how boring and dull it is without you there!" She said with a pout. She was wearing a strapless hot pink crop top with a jean jacket, extremely tight white jeans, and hot pink heels that would probably break my foot if I tried them on. Her straight brown hair was tied in a high ponytail.

"I told you yesterday, Pearl. I only sat there because Thorne wanted to play B.S with the other guys there." Kai said, running his hand through his dark hair.

"But Kai dear, you said you would sit with me today!"

"Correction, I said I _might_ sit there _next week._ "

She rolled her eyes, sitting in the seat next to him and grabbing his hand so tightly his fingers turned purple. "Come on, Kaito. I though we where a thing?"

He tried to pull his hand away, but she only tightened her grip. "We where _never_ a 'thing'."

She smiled a sweet, obviously fake, smile and leaned into Kai. "Why don't we go out tomorrow, lets say... nine a.m? Great! I'll see you then, sweetie!" She quickly pecked a kiss on his cheek and got up to walk away, smirking at me as she did so.

Kai took out a wet-wipe from his backpack and wiped the area she kissed, a disgusted look on his face.

Iko leaned over to me and whispered "This is a daily thing, she goes and harasses him and never gets caught."

I sighed, "That sounds like Pearl."

Suddenly a wad if paper hit the back of my head. I turned around to see pearl glaring at me. I took the crumpled paper and straightened it out.

It had one sentence.

 _Cinderwench,_

 _Stay away from Kaito Prince, or watch your back._

I glared back at her, crunching the paper in my fist. Why was she set on having everything and me having nothing? I will never understand how her mind works, or if she even has one.

Turning back around, I slumped in my seat, and continued to watch the other students do their improv on stage.

 **...**

"Ugh!" I groaned, stretching my arms above my head as Peony and I walked home from school.

"Now you know what it's like!" Peony squealed, jumping up and down with excitement. "And even better, Kai Prince asked you out on a date!"

"I don't know, I might have to cancel." I said, looking down.

Peony stopped jumping and spun around to face me, putting her hands on my shoulders to stop me in my tracks. "What the heck do you mean by that?"

Sighing, I took out the note and showed it to her. Her eyes grew angry when she read it.

"Who gave you this?" She shouted so loudly that the whole street probably heard.

"Guess."

Her eyes darkened. "I will kill her. She knows better than to mess with my OTP!"

I laughed, "Really?"

We started walking again. "Please, Cinder! Promise me you'll go tomorrow! Even if the world ends overnight!"

I nodded, smiling. Glad that — even in my cruel and messed up world — I had Peony.

 **...**

The sun was setting, slowly giving in to twilight. Peony held two shopping bags; and I held one. Our breath was starting to fog in the late-November air.

"Is all this stuff really necessary?" I asked her.

"Oh course! It's your first date, you have to look good or my OTP will be crushed!"

I smiled at her enthusiasm as we walked up to a small mechanic shop. "I'll only be a second." I said, running into the shop and grabbing a small bag of equipment for my prosthetics and heading right back out.

The sky was now pretty much dark, the last remains of twilight disappearing and the street lights turning on.

"Ready to go home!" I asked.

"Yeah-a-acho!" She sneezed quietly into her sleeve.

"Careful!" I said, taking my scarf off and putting it gently above hers. "You'll catch cold."

She smiled, "Thanks Cinder, but I'm fine." She said, handing me back the scarf. And we started quickly walking home, knowing Adri would throw a fit if we where late.

Suddenly a white flake landed on my sleeve, I looked up. Several small pieces of ice where falling from the sky.

"Snow!" Peony shouted.

"Looks like it's early this year," I said, looming at Peony's smiling face. Suddenly she started coughing, a bit of blood falling from her mouth onto her white gloves.

A frightened frown formed on my face when I saw something peeking up on her neck. Slowly I reached and pulled her scarf loose a little, tears forming in my eyes as I did so.

Her entire neck had formed a purplish-blue rash.

"Huh, what is it Cinder?" She asked, trying to look down to her neck — but failing.

Shaking, she quickly and hastily removed her glove. Freezing when she saw her hands. Dropping her gloves, tears started forming in her eyes.

"Cinder..." Her voice was shaky, and interrupted by a sob. She looked up at me for my confirmation.

"Peony..." I whispered, my voice being broken and cracked from my sobs. "Y-you have Letumosis..."

Her face went blank, tears streaming down her cheeks. Slowly she sank down to the ground, looking with fear at her hands.

She was silent for a few seconds — when time seemed to stand still, then she screamed. Her scream was filled with fear and agony, sobs racked her body. I dropped all of my bags and hugged her, my knees being scraped from the sudden impact with cement. I held her head to my chest tears seeming to carve caverns on my cheeks. Eventually her screams stopped, and turned into silent agonizing sobs.

 _Why,_ I thought. _Why Peony?_

* * *

Muahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! I'M SO EVIL!

Just kidding, it was so hard for me to write this chapter. I actually wasn't planning this chapter to be this, but I was listening to this sad song... And this sorta happened...

I'm going to go cry now...

But anyways, I actually have to go back to hell tomorrow.  
*Screams in the background* WHY WEEKEND, WHY ARE YOU OVER SO SOON?

Okay, I'm fine now...

 **.**

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 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

I lied.  
Seriously though, save me from school. *goes and hides in a corner surrounded by gloom*

Q- _Your reaction to Peony's death in Cinder?_

A- _Let me recreate the scene._

 _*goes to pick up the book Cinder and turns to page 259-261*_  
 _*clears throat* Me: NO YOU'RE FINE PEONY YOU CAN'T DIE CINDER HAS THE MEDICINE DON'T BE STUBBORN AND TAKE THE MEDICINE LIKE A GOOD LITTLE GIRL! PEONY *sobs* Peony..._  
 _Aaaaaaaaaaand scene! *cries*_

Kiki?

 **[Present-day author's note: When you realize that you went around typing "I'v" instead of "I've" in the first half of this fanfic because stupid auto-correct never told you otherwise *cringes*]**


	8. 7- The Day He Saw Her Tears

Sooooooo, lots of Kaider/Sekai in this chapter! The last one was physically painful for me to write... Sorry (~_~;)

So here's a new chapter, I was thinking about writing something so I just though "What the heck, it's not like I have anything better to do!" and that's the story of how I got here.

And in case you didn't know, the coffee shop that Cinder and Kai are supposed to meet at is based off of my favorite locally owned one. My mom was friends with the owner so we went there a lot for milkshakes, sandwiches, and pumpkin spice latte's. They closed down a few months ago though (Ｔ＿Ｔ)

*does the district twelve three finger goodbye symbol*

* * *

 **POV- Cinder**

I walked through the brisk cold snow, heading towards the coffee shop. My cheek still stung from when Adri slapped me when I got home around twelve last night. She said she wandered why I even bothered returning — that Peony was the only reason I was still welcome there in the first place.

I saw Kaito sitting at one of the small tables out front, a latte in his gloved hands with steam flowing from the opening of the cup.

Taking a deep, painfully cold breath, I walked up to him. "Hey Kaito." I said, giving him a sheepish grin.

"There you are," He said, standing. "I was worried you weren't coming!"

"Why wouldn't I? It's not like I have anything better to do."

He was wearing a fancy looking coat with a small collar, it was a deep, dark blue with a white line running along the edges. He looked amazing, and I cursed myself for thinking about things like this when Peony — my little sister, my best friend — was dying.

I looked down. "You know what, forget what I just said. You shouldn't bother yourself with me. I could leave now — that would make things easier for everyone. I'll just be going no-" I started to turn away, hoping to get out of his sight by the time my tears started to fall. But her grabbed my by the shoulders, spinning me back around to face him.

"Cinder, what's wrong?" He asked me, looking into my eyes. I looked down, silent. "Cinder!"

"Peony-" I whispered under my breath, my voice cracking. "Peony's going to die..." I said again, a little louder. Unable to hold it in any more, I began to cry. Slow, silent tears dripped down my face. "It's all my fault, if I had just brought her home right away last night she might not have gotten it yet, she would've had more time. If I hadn't been so stupi-"

Suddenly Kai pulled me into a hug, silencing my self-insults and catching me by surprise. "What does she have?" He asked quietly.

"Letumosis," I answered, "The un-curable cancer."

"Cinder," He whispered, "You can't catch Letumosis, it's genetic. Unless you physically placed the cancer into her body theres no way you caused it."

He held me for a while, till the endless tears suddenly came to a stop.

"Come on," He said, "I know a nice, quiet place we can talk."

 **...**

We walked for about thirty minutes, slowly. He never removed his arm from my shoulder.

"It's just a little farther." He stated as we climbed a small path of old steps up a hill at the edge of town. "Here!" He removed his arm from my shoulder, only to slip his hand into mine — lacing our fingers together. We stepped quickly off the steps and onto a small path that could easily be missed if you weren't keeping an eye out for it. A few minutes later it opened up into a small clearing with a small stone pavilion and a few benches. There was a simple stone railing tracing the edge of a cliff overlooking the entire city of Commonwealth.

"Wow..." Was all I managed to say, my mouth hanging open in awe as I walked and rested my hands on the cold stone railing.

"I know, I though you might like it here." He said, coming to stand beside me.

"It's beautiful." I whispered, my knuckles turning white from clutching the railing.

"You're beautiful too, you know." He said.

I blushed, "You're just saying things."

"But it's true! You really are pretty!"

I sighed, resting my chin on top of my hands. "Why would you — out of all the people in the world — you, Kaito Prince; the son of the richest man in the country, possibly the world, call me pretty?"

"Because it's the truth." He stated simply, his eyes drifting over my face. Studying my features as if I where a priceless work of art.

"You must be more insane than Princess Winter of China then." I said. Princess Winter, stepdaughter of the empress, Levana, was a really hot topic online. Several news articles stated that she was legally insane, and people believed her. Some thought that it was because of the empress herself, that she tortured the poor girl till she lost her sense of humanity. She even had three long, ugly scars across her soft, perfect chocolate-colored face.

"Don't deny your beauty." He said, brushing some hair out of my face. "Accept that you are pretty, and things will go a whole lot easier for you."

I rolled my eyes at him, bending down quickly and rolling together a ball of snow. I stood straight again, running some ways away and throwing it at Kai. At first he was shocked by that sudden action — but the he smiled, starting to build a few snowballs to join the game.

We spent about an hour there, throwing snow and laughing as we hit each other with it. I almost forgot the heaviness that weighed down my heart.

Eventually we were done, sitting down to rest on one of the benches that overlooked the city. I rested my head on Kai's shoulder, looking up at him.

"Thanks." I whispered, just loud enough for him to hear.

"What for?" He asked, looking back at me.

I shook my head, "Nothing. Just, thanks."

He smiled as we stood, he took my hand and we walked over and sat on the stone railing. He slowly leaned into me, kissing me gently on the lips before standing. I stood with him, and he walked me home through the cold, harsh snow.

* * *

*fangirlish squeals and heavy breathing*

*:.｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:*

*･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･'(*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)'･*:.｡. .｡.:*･゜ﾟ･*

I had fun writing this chapter, though I'm absolutely terrible at writing romantic scenes. Good thing I don't write romance novels (T ^ T) Though I wish I could

So I just discovered that my little brother was in ISS all day and cut someones hair at school, he's grounded from electronics all weekend now and he's saying "Why does the world hate me?"

Yeah...

Happy Friday everyone!

Peace out ＼(^o^)／


	9. 8- Depressing News

Hi everyone!

I decided that I was getting kinda bored with Cinder's POV, and thought that I would switch between the other characters for a while.

I hope you enjoy the story!

* * *

 **POV- Cress**

I walked outside into the icy, cool air. Finally it was Monday, and I was allowed out of the house. Sybil had left about an hour ago, leaving me to finish my work on the computer.

That's another thing, I'm constantly having to do her work for her — with no reward whatsoever. I'm not complaining or anything, I just wish that my dad was home more often. So that I didn't have to live with that monster.

Let me explain how I got her as a caretaker; when my dad was a bit younger and worked at the lab full-time, and I was a small child my mom died. Since my dad was so busy with work he didn't have much time to take care of me. His solution? Hiring Sybil as my caretaker. She was looking for work at the time, after leaving her job at the lab. When I started middle school she got a job at the high school, so she could still take care of me when I was out of school.

Only one problem — she is a complete nightmare.

She noticed my talent for computers when I was younger, and then decided "Hey, I can get her to do all of my computer work for me, so my jobs are super easy!"

Yeah... Fun, right?

I walked quickly to the school, as quickly as I could with my heavy bag (filled with books, if course). Peony had asked to borrow a series that I had the other day, so I had all five books in my bag. It was my favorite series, the author Marissa Meyer was awesome!

I reached the school, heading to the library to meet Peony and give her the books.

Turning the corner I saw Cinder and Scarlet, grim looks on both of their faces. "Hey guy," I said, greeting them. "What's wrong?"

Cinder looked up, her face emotionless and dull. Scarlet looked as if she where holding back tears. "Where's Peony?" I asked, "I brought the books she wanted to borrow."

Scarlet looked at Cinder, "Peony's not coming." Cinder said, her voice completely emotionless.

A confused and worried expression creeped onto my face. "Why?" My voice was shaking from fear, expecting the worst — unfortunately my expectations where correct.

"She's going to die..." Cinder's voice cracked. "She has Letumosis, Peony is going to die!" Her voice was filled with pain and disbelief. She whisper-yelled the last part, making her statement sound more like a question.

My arms went weak, my bag slipping out of my hands.

"H-how?" I asked no one in particular, slipping to the floor on my knees. "She can't die. She was one of the only friends I had."

I looked up at Cinder and Scarlet. "Does Iko know?"

"Yes." Cinder said, shaking from the sobs that weren't there. "I sent her a text yesterday, I don't think she's coming to school today."

There was a long pause.

"W-will we be able to see her again?" Scarlet asked, breaking the harsh silence.

"I was going to go with Iko to the hospital to see her after school, you two can come as well if you want."

I nodded slightly, "Yeah, that would be nice."

"Come on," Cinder said, grabbing my hand and pulling me up. "Lets get to class."

* * *

The day passed in a blur. In the few classes I had with Peony (second and sixth period) the teachers asked where she was — and I started crying all over again.

After school I met up with Cinder and Scarlet in the front of school, under a leafless cherry tree. Iko was there too, she probably just arrived at school late.

We all got into Scarlet's car, with her briefly mentioning not to get anything on the seats or her grandmother would kill her. We all knew she was trying to lift the mood, but it wasn't helping.

We arrived at the hospital with grim faces, and stood silently behind Cinder as she got Peony's room number. We followed her up the stairs, not bothering to take the elevator, and down the hall; walking until we saw the name "Peony Linh" scribbled neatly on a paper right under the room number.

We walked in, Iko and I immediately running to the sleeping girl's side.

"Peony!" I cried, burying my face in the blankets piled on top of her.

She moaned sleepily, trying to push herself upright in bed. "Cress, Iko? What are you doing here?" She asked.

"We're here to see you of course, silly!" Iko threw her arms around Peony's fragile figure.

"Th-thanks, I guess." She smiled.

"Peony, has Adri or Pearl come to visit you yet?" Cinder asked, sitting on the side of her bed.

"Only mom, a little earlier today. She asked what I wanted to do with my homecoming dress, since I can't really go anymore." She had a sad look in her eyes, and I knew why. Peony had never been to a dance before, the middle school she went to didn't hold them and she was only a freshmen. She had talked almost nonstop about it (when she wasn't going on with Iko about their ships).

"What are you going to do with it?" Cinder asked, caringly brushing a piece of hair out of her face.

"She brought it with her, and I asked to keep it here. I want you to wear it to the dance."

"Wh-what?" Cinder asked, shocked as Peony pulled out a box that contained the delicate silver dress.

She smiled. "I want you to wear it when you dance with Kai Prince!"

Iko laughed. "Looks like your still the same Peony, shipping and all."

Everyone sat there in a long, peaceful silence. Happy at seeing Peony's smiling face — and sad at the fact that we might never see it again.

Scarlet sat down next to her on the bed. "Don't worry, Peony." She said. "We'll make sure Cinder dances with Kai. And don't worry about yourself either, my grandmother said that she heard a rumor of China discovering an antidote — you're going to be just fine!" Tears where forming in her eyes, along with mine and everyone else's.

We all hugged Peony then, a sad but happy scene unfolding. Peony started to cry too, but a smile broke through. "Don't cry! You just said I would be fine, right. What's the point of crying if you know I'll be alright, huh?" She asked, tears flowing down her face.

Even then her smile remained strong.

It was the last time I ever saw her smile.

* * *

That's the chapter! I know, another depressing one. Sorry ( ' ▽ ' )ﾉ

I'm trying to get most of the depressing chapters out of the way, but there will be a whole lot more in the future. What can I say, there are depressing parts of The Lunar Chronicles!

So tomorrow on Halloween I'm going to post a special one-shot, taking place before the story on Halloween. I'm actually going to start on it right now!

It's Wednesday though, so...

LESS THAN TWO WEEKS TILL WINTER!

I'm going to post a special extra-long chapter on November 10th, I might add Winter and Jacin into the story too, but idk.

Peace out Lunaratics! (I probably misspelt that)

 _(Additional note- I'm posting this chapter a day early because we're going to the beach for my mom's work tomorrow after school and I don't know if I'll be able to update)_


	10. HALLOWEEN SPECIAL!

*starts humming*

This is Halloween!

This is Halloween!

Halloween!

 _Halloween!_

 **Halloween!**

 ** _HALLOWEEN!_**

Happy Halloween!

Here is the special Halloween chapter I promised!

 **A quick question beforehand-** What are you going to be/where you for Halloween?

 **My answer-** I'm going as Lucy Heartfilia from Fairy Tail!

Yeah, Halloween is the only time you get payed in candy for cosplaying. So I usually buy a 50-100 dollar costume.

Oh well.

Happy Halloween!

P.S- This takes place a month or two before the fanfiction starts, during Halloween time.

* * *

 **POV- Peony**

"Peony! Hurry up! We're gonna be late!" Cinder called from downstairs. Actually, I was the one that was going to be late. My mom and Pearl where off at a party, while Cinder was taking me to a friends house to go trick-or-treating. I asked her several times to go, but she refused, saying that she had too much work to do.

"Just a second!" I called back to her as I adjusted my halo/tiara. Yes, I was going trick-or-treating as the princess of angels; it was one of the only things I could think of.

"Peony, if you aren't down in thirty seconds I'm not taking you!" She called. I sighed, grabbing my white silk bag and rushing down the stairs.

"You ready?" Cinder asked, eyeing me suspiciously.

"Yes, Cinder!" I wined. We went through this every Halloween. I would come up with a crazy costume idea, mom and Pearl would go to a Halloween party, and Cinder would stay home and work.

It wasn't always like that though, when we where younger Cinder, Iko, and I would go trick-or-treating together. The last time we went together was a few years ago; Iko was a movie star, Cinder was Sailor Moon, and I was Chibi-Usa (aka, Sailor Mini Moon).

"Come on, Iko and your other friends are waiting for you."

"Yes, Cinder." I hopped into the passenger seat of the old orange truck — which we called Cinderella's Carriage because of the color, and the fact that it was an old piece of junk that could fall apart at any time. We're hoping that when it does happen, it's at midnight.

We drove for about five minutes through town, stopping at the street that Iko and I agreed to meet at. I got out, holding my bag and turning to give Cinder a hug.

"Are you sure you don't want to come?" I asked, my eyes pleading.

She gave me a weak grin. "Sorry Peony, next year maybe?"

I crossed my arms, pouting. "Fine! But next year you're going as Sailor Moon, I'll be Chibi-Moon, and you and Kai should be dating by then — so he'll go as Prince Endymion!"

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, no."

I smiled, "Hashtag Kaider!" I said, teasing her.

"Peony, there you are! The others are waiting!" Iko ran up to me. She was wearing her long dark hair in braids — as usual — with several shades of blue dye. She was dressed in a long white greek-style dress, with golden leaves wrapping around her upper arms and a gold leaf wreath as a tiara. She was obviously a greek goddess, and the costume suited her.

"Hey, Iko." Cinder said, waving from the car.

Her eyes lightened when she saw her, "Cinder! Are you finally giving in and going with us?"

"Sorry, no." Cinder said. "I have too much work to do at home."

Iko clicked her tongue. "Excuses, excuses!"

"I have to go now, I'll pick ya'll up at nine. Okay?" Cinder asked.

"Yeah, thanks Cinder!" I said, closing the car door so she could leave.

As soon as she turned the corner and was gone I turned to Iko. "So what's the plan?" I asked.

She smiled mischievously. "If all goes well, Cress and Scarlet will each have a new boyfriend by the end of the night."

* * *

The plan was simple. We had been secretly planning this night for years — which was one of the reasons I wanted Cinder to come too. She was part of our favorite ship, Kaider!

We had payed close attention to the paths Kai, Thorne, and Wolf took for trick-or-treating the past few years. And it was a good path, they always brought loads of candy to school for weeks afterwards.

The plan was to have our path collide with theirs several times, and then meet up at this party that Scarlet's friend (and cousin) Émilie was holding. Then the main part of the plan was to take place. (Insert evil laugh here o(｀ω' )o)

"Scarlet, Cress!" I called across the street, where our friends where waiting.

"Time?" I whispered urgently to Iko.

"We have exactly two minutes and thirteen seconds to socialize a bit before we have to start trick or treating if we want to run into the guys." Iko whispered back.

I held my fangirlish squeals in. I couldn't afford to mess this up, we needed these ships to become canon. And nothing was going to get in our way.

Cress was dressed in a long light blue gown, her hair was braided delicately down her back with extensions making the already long hair reach well past her feet — which where barefoot. With one glance I could already tell that she was Rapunzel.

Scarlet had a red cloak, under which she was wearing a medieval-styled red dress and matching flats with some white tights. She was obviously Little Red Riding Hood.

"Wow, nice outfit Scar. I don't think I'v ever seen you dress this girly before!" Iko teased.

"Shut up, Iko. This is a one-time thing!" She snapped back in her absolutely _adorable_ french accent.

"Cress, you look so pretty in that dress! You need to wear it to school sometime." I said, admiring what a good job she did on her costume — as simple as it was. Cress actually made her costume. She never had time after school to go out and about, so on the weekends and in her free time she spent it sewing several dresses and writing songs.

Another thing — Cress was the best singer I knew. Even though she was incredibly shy about it, she was amazing.

* * *

"There they are, Iko! They're early!" I whisper-shouted to my friend. I was holding a blood-red fruit punch, and Scarlet and Cress where nowhere to be seen.

"No, they weren't late. We where!" Iko said, face palming herself. "We where supposed to get here twenty minutes before to help set up with Émilie, and make our ships canon. But what do we do now!"

A buzz came from my phone, I pulled it from my bag and read the message.

 ** _From: Émilie_**

 _Where are you? We have to start part two now!_

I mentally slapped myself.

"Iko, we need to get in part two positions! Émilie's already waiting for her signal!"

Iko cursed under her breath. "Wish me luck!" She said, putting on her best smile and walking up to the boys.

I growled slightly as I started to push through the crowds and search for Scarlet and Cress. After about a minute of searching I found them by the back doors.

"Cress, Scarlet! We need you, now!" I said, quickly grabbing their wrists and pulling them along to the backyard. Iko was already there by the pool with Wolf, Thorne, and Kai.

"Iko, there you are! Did you being the sparklers?" I asked, playing along with our plan.

"Dang it! I left them with Émilie!" She said, walking towards me. We where in a small flower garden, with two tables that seated two on opposite sides of the garden and a fancy white privacy fence surrounding the area. In the center of it all was a fountain; with a mermaid holding a shell above her head and various fairy tale scenes around the base.

"Kaito, could you help us carry them back here?" She asked.

"Sure, why not?" He replied, standing and walking with us.

"Ya'll just wait here, we'll be back in a minute." I said, walking to the garden gate. "There are two small boxes of sparklers for personal use on the tables, feel free to use them!"

We exited the garden, quickly turning and closing and locking the gate; getting a really confused look from Kai.

"Um...?"

"Shhhhhhh!" Iko and I whisper-shouted in unison, placing our hands over Kai's mouth; then proceeding to creep around the fence, peeking in through the flower bushes through a missing plank in the fence. It gave us a perfect view of what was going on inside.

"Um, what are we doing?" Kai asked.

"Making our ships canon." I replied simply — watching as Cresswell and Wolflet opened their package of sparklers. The thing about these, though, is that the shape of two of them together form a heart.

I smiled at the flushed faces of our OTP's as they saw the instructions of the sparklers.

"IKO, PEONY!"

"Um, what do we do now?" Kai asked.

Iko and I looked nervously at each other.

"Now," Iko said. "We run."

* * *

 **POV- Cinder**

I pulled up in front of Émilie's house, waiting for Peony to come out so we could go home. It was 9:30 now, I was going to have to apologize for being late.

The car door opened, a very tired looking girl entering the car. Her once beautiful dress was in shreds, and her halo/tiara was missing. The makeup that she spent hours putting on was smeared, and it looked like she had been crying.

Her bag of candy was missing.

I sighed, banging my head on the steering wheel. "What did you do this time?"

She sniffled a little bit. "I locked Cresswell and Wolflet in the garden."

"Okay, lets get home." I said hugging her.

Looking out in the front yard I saw Iko and Émilie in similar states.

 _Would they ever learn?_

* * *

So there's that Halloween one-shot! I would have made it longer, except I literally put this together in two days. It's Friday Eve right now, so lets pray I survive tomorrow to post this on Saturday.

Update- Kiki? died on the 30th of October due to school. It's still rumored that her ghost roams the world, trying to find ways to update her Wattpad stories.

I'm going to the beach tomorrow afternoon! My mom's shooting a small wedding there (she's a photographer) and we get to go hang out on the beach for a few hours. We're going straight back home in the morning though. So I probably just got home when you're reading this (if I just posted it).

I'm so tired right now *yawns* and I have no idea how. It's not even eight yet. I'm going to get ready for bed now, bye Lunartics!

Please comment on how I did with this one-shot (it's the first time I'm trying this so... ?)


	11. 9- Dress Shopping

*a bunch of high-pitched squealing*

*･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･'(*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)'･*:.｡. .｡.:*･゜ﾟ･*

*:.｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:*

*･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･'(*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)'･*:.｡. .｡.:*･゜ﾟ･*

*:.｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:*

 **CONNECTION LOST DUE TO EXTREME EXCITEMENT AND FANGIRLING OVERLOAD**

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Okay, I'm back!

But seriously. WINTER IS ALMOST FREAKING HERE!

I'm already planning the extra-long chapter!

I really hope I don't die from the wait before I can read it. (^_^)

Here's the chapter.

I hope you like the chapter.

My driveway is flooded right now.

 **[Present-day author: I remember that. The water got into the garage and ruined dozens of my dad's old books that hadn't made it to his office/library. RIP books.]**

It's 9:30.

They're just now canceling school.

There's at least two inches of water in our garage.

Our driveway is now a raging river.

You guys probably want to read the chapter now.

Okay.

I'll leave.

Bye...

* * *

 **POV- Iko**

"Yes! It's finally time to go dress shopping!" I squealed, rushing out of the school and dragging Cinder by the wrist. Cress and Scarlet where following — smart enough not to move slowly.

Cinder struggled to get out of my grip. "I already told you, Iko. I'm not going!"

I stopped, turning around to face her; but not letting up on my death grip. "Oh yes you are! Peony told me to make sure you went! She's giving you her dress, so we have to get accessories!" I turned back around, dragging her to my car. I opened the passenger door, pushing her in and locking the door when it closed. I then quickly rushed to the drivers side. Cress and Scarlet where already in the back, smart girls.

"We can't take too long," Cress said, "Sybil would have a fit if I'm late coming home."

I rolled my eyes. "Don't worry, Cress! We'll get you home with time to spare!"

She smiled. "Thanks Iko!"

* * *

"What about this one?" I asked, holding up a bright pink frilly dress to Cress.

"Yeah, no." Scarlet said, grabbing the beautiful work of art from my hands.

I huffed. "Seriously Scarlet? That would look perfect on her!"

She rolled her eyes. "What do you think, Cress?"

"Um, I would like something a little less... flashy?"

Scarlet looked at me with triumph in her eyes. "See?"

Cinder came into the dressing room then, a few dresses in her arms.

"There you are Cinder! What are those?" I asked, motioning to the dresses in her arms.

"I though that you three would like these, so I grabbed them." She took the dresses and hung them on the rack that we where looking at dresses on, and the ones she chose really where lovely. There was a light blue one, a scarlet red one, and a gorgeous royal blue and dark purple one.

The blue one had a simple design. There was only one sleeve — which went down to the elbow, then flared out gracefully. The skirt elegantly flowed around the knees, and seemed to have hints of gold woven into it.

The scarlet one was a bit more extravagant than the blue one, but still not as amazing as the purple and blue one. It was sleeveless, with a design of lace and crystals across the top — and thinning out at the skirt. There where hair accessories that went with it, which was a crystal and lace clip.

My personal favorite, the royal blue/dark purple one was incredible! The front of the skirt ended mid-thigh, but the back of it flowed elegantly far down the back. There was a combination of diamonds and lace, wrapping around the arms and leaving about half the back exposed. I loved it.

The other two where obviously pleased with what Cinder found, immediately taking them to try on. Cress was out first, taking the shoes that Cinder gave her when she came out. Slipping on the blue flats, she stood in front of the mirror.

"Thank you Cinder!" She said, turning to give her friend a hug.

Cinder smiled. "No problem Cress."

A few minutes later Scarlet came out, wearing the red dress. The top layer of her hair was pulled to her left side, pinned together with the hair clip. She was wearing a pair of red lace heels that she chose earlier, and a ruby necklace fell around her neck.

I squealed seeing them. "Yes! Now my OTP's will happen! They won't be able to resist you guys!"

They laughed nervously at me.

"Um, Iko? Are you going to try yours on?" Cinder asked.

I gasped. "You're right! What was I thinking?"

I quickly grabbed the piece of artwork and changed — by quickly I mean it took me about ten minutes to get changed. I slipped a pair of dark blue heels on, with small crystals every now and then in the lace.

Standing, I walked out dramatically; posing in front of the mirror.

They laughed, and I smiled — briefly wishing that Peony was here, then pushing the though away. She would be fine... right?

* * *

I yawned, stretching my arms above my head. "Remind me again why we have to study the night before homecoming?"

Scarlet rolled her eyes. "Because we have CA's on Monday." We where on her living room floor — Cinder, Scarlet, and I.

The week had passed by in a blur, and Scarlet suggested that we'd meet up at her house to study for a while; and we could spend the night. Cress wasn't allowed to come, sadly. Her house was awesome though — Scarlet's, I mean. They had to have at least ten miles of farmland, and the house itself was extremely cozy.

We had brought several quilts and pillows into the room, and where surrounding her small round coffee table. Trying to make sense of the rocket science in front of us.

"I give up!" I shouted, tossing all of my study sheets and homework into the air and watching them flow down around us. I fell onto my back, landing on a pile of pillows.

"Stop complaining, Iko." Cinder said, leaning down on her hands. "Hey Scarlet, it's really cold in here, could you start up the fireplace or something?"

"Yeah, sorry." She said, standing. "Usually my grandmother forgets to take out the heaters this time of year. I'll go grab some logs for the fireplace." She started walking to the side door. "There's some milk in the fridge, and some chocolate mix. Ya'll can make hot chocolate if you want." She said as she went through the door, letting a small gust of cold air in.

I shivered, sitting up. "Hot chocolate sounds pretty good right now!" I started to stand, heading to the kitchen with Cinder following.

We made the hot drinks, one for each of us. Cinder decided to make Scarlet one too.

Scarlet's house was awesome, even though it was extremely old. Her grandmother grew up in this house, after moving from France as a small child. Scarlets mom and aunt decided to move back to France when they got older though, but when Scarlet's mom died she moved here to live with her grandmother. Shortly after she came to america her aunt an cousin moved back as well, Scar's cousin was Émilie — another girl in our grade.

A few minutes later Scarlet came in, holding a pile of cut wood. I held back a laugh — her scarlet hair was covered with snowflakes, and her bare feet where almost the same shade as her hair.

"Scarlet, why did you go out there without shoes?" I asked, snickering.

She scowled at me playfully. "I didn't feel like putting them on. And I was already wearing my hoodie." That much was true. I swear that she never took that thing off.

She dumped the logs into the fireplace, grabbing a match and starting to prepare the fire. After a few minutes she seemed satisfied and came back down to sit by us.

"I think that's enough studying for the night. Let's put on a movie." She said, closing her textbook.

Eventually we agreed on watching the old dubbed version of sailor moon. We didn't exactly know why (it wasn't even a movie), perhaps because it was Peony's favorite show as a kid. That was something we all knew, and maybe we just wanted to feel closer to her — before she left us forever.

* * *

 **[Present-day author: Yikes. I forgot about that ending. I was an evil 14-year-old.]**

There's the chapter! The next one is going to be released on Tuesday, and you all know what that is!

*Drumroll please*

WINTER'S RELEASE DATE!

*:.｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:*

*:.｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:*

*･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･'(*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)'･*:.｡. .｡.:*･゜ﾟ･*

It's so close!

I can already feel the book in my hands... only it's not there... (T_T)

I'm probably going to want to read it... but hesitate.

Let's think about it. This is the very last book in the series.

The.

Very.

Last.

Book.

How will I survive?

How will I breath?

HOW WILL I FREAKING LIVE WITHOUT MY BABIES?!

We can only read the book for the first time once.

I'm going to go cry now.

Alone.

In a corner.

In my room.

(P.S- Please comment on what you think about my chapters?)


	12. 10- WINTER RELEASE SPECIAL!

IT IS FREAKING HERE! WINTER IS OUT! IN ACTUAL STORES! BEING BOUGHT AND READ BY ACTUAL PEOPLE!

Anyway, here is the promised extra long Winter Release chapter. It's a bit more than twice the normal chapter length. So enjoy!

* * *

 **POV- Cinder**

I couldn't believe I was actually going to this thing. And while Peony was in the hospital too! I swear, how could I go to the dance in her dress? I felt terrible.

"Come on Cinder, cheer up! Kai asked you to homecoming yesterday afternoon - it's not like you aren't going with anyone." Iko said, trying to do my makeup as best as she could with my glum expression.

"How can I be cheerful? Peony has been looking forward to going to a high school dance since before I was even in high school! This just feels... wrong."

Iko rolled her eyes, "Cinder! If Peony found out that you couldn't enjoy yourself because you spent the whole time worrying about her, she would be devastated!"

"I guess you're right." I stood as Iko put the last few finishing touches on my makeup and hair. Though I hate to admit it, I actually didn't look all that bad. My hair was curled (after several failed attempts) and pinned up into a ponytail with a silver ribbon. I had a pair of silver heels that hid my fake foot; on my hands where a lovely pair of gloves, with pearls sewed into the hem. They had been a gift from Kai yesterday when he asked me out; sadly they had been stained in a few places from Pearl acting out of jealousy.

"Com on!" Iko squealed, grabbing my arm and dragging me outside the side door into e cold snow. "Let's go!"

We where at Scarlet's house again, it was the most comfortable in everyones opinion. Cress's house was home to the devil, Iko's was a bit too small for the occasion (though I'm sure she just didn't want to clean her room), and there where obvious reasons why we couldn't go to mine. So we where left with Scarlet's, which was completely okay with her grandmother (thank god).

I froze when we turned the corner to the front. "Oh my stars, Iko. You didn't."

Sitting in front of us, in the long driveway of Scarlet's home, was a limo. It was the typical limo shape, big enough to fit maybe ten people with room to spare - and it was silvery white.

"Well don't just stand there! Cress and Scarlet are already inside, I don't want to freeze to death before we even get to the dance!" Iko gave me a playful shove in the direction of the car. I rolled my eyes as I pulled on my coat, which Iko apparently forgot we needed in this weather.

I smiled slightly as I entered the warm limo. "Wow." I whispered under my breath. It was awesome, that's the only way to describe it. There was a long built-in couch on the left side of the car, and on the right was a table filled with small trays on snacks and a few cups of hot cider. On the far end of the limo, near the front, was a large flat-screen tv, with some reality show playing.

"How much did this cost?" I asked.

"Oh, about 2 or 3,000 dollars." Iko spoke as if it where nothing.

"Where did you even get the money?"

"Umm," Cress piped in. "It was a gift from Kai."

* * *

As we pulled up to the school and stepped out of the limo, I immediately sensed the unease, excitement, and confusion in the air. People where huddled in groups outside, whispering and gossiping amongst themselves. The had to be insane, it was around twenty degrees outside! It was snowing for crying out loud!

I scanned the crowds of kids searching for a certain someone - he spotted me before I spotted him.

"Cinder!" I heard someone call from behind me, turning I saw Kai and Thorne rushing towards us. "Do you know what's going on?" He asked, but before I could answer another voice called out.

"Scarling! Scarling!" Émilie yelled in her sweet french accent from about fifty feet away, running to join us in front of the doors.

"Émilie, what's going on?" Scarlet asked.

"You haven't heard the rumors yet?"

I was really starting to wander what was going on. "What rumors?"

Sh smiled. Émilie was a sweetheart, but she was _way_ too obsessed with gossip and rumors. "They're saying that Princess Winter is going to start attending school here as part of an exchange program. And she's going to be attending the dance!"

My eyes widened, my jaw dropping open. "No. Way." I mumbled.

"It's just a rumor, right?" Cress asked. "There's no proof."

Émilie smiled. "It's all over the news! It's the top story on several of my apps, and people are saying that they saw a limo with Bei Jing's insignia on it."

"Whoa, slow down." Kai said, dramatically moving his hands down as if to slow our speaking. "Why would a princess come to our school?"

"You're here." Scarlet pointed out.

Kai looked offended. "I'm not royalty!"

I scoffed. "Your last name is Prince and your dad owns one of the biggest companies in the country. Who wouldn't consider you royalty?"

"Well, technically she isn't an actual princess. She is only related to the royal family in name, Levana is her stepmother." Cress spoke as if each statement was a question, doubting her knowledge.

"True!" Émilie agreed.

Iko sighed in frustration. "But who cares? She's still _technically_ a princess!"

Suddenly Émilie turned serious. "But there's been another rumor," she whispered. "That they are here for more than just an exchange. Some people are saying that she's secretly searching for Selene."

My eyes darkened. "But, why? She was killed in a fire years ago!"

"There are theories, people claiming to have helped her. It's just a rumor, but if it's real..."

As much as we wanted to ignore that stupid gossip, we couldn't. This was serious. If Princess Selene was alive the entire government of China would fall apart, people supporting they wretched queen, and some wanting Selene to take her place.

Princess Selene was the daughter of Queen Channary - the ruler of China before Levana, the current queen's older sister who had caught a mysterious illness and died. But before she passed away, she had a child. Some people rumor that it was Levana who killed the princess that day, setting the nursery on fire and killing the princess and her nanny. And some people said she lived, and was plotting a way to overthrow Queen Levana and get revenge.

Those where just theories though. And most of them made no sense whatsoever.

"Come on guys," Kai eventually said. "Let's get inside before we die of the cold."

We all nodded in agreement, I think Cress had it the worst. The poor girls legs where red and I could see her shivering. Suddenly a black cloth fell over her shoulders - ridiculously large on her. She looked up to see a blushing Thorne without the jacket of his suit.

"You looked cold." He said plainly.

"Th-thank you." She said, blushing as she pulled the jacked farther around her.

Iko squealed, "OMS! Cresswell!" And that only caused Cress and Thorne to grow redder.

* * *

I was perfectly fine with just sitting and talking. But unfortunately, no. It was a dance, so I had to dance (according to Iko and Émilie).

Eventually Kai and I got tired of the nagging, so he grabbed my hand and dragged me to the dance floor just as a slow song started playing. As we danced I saw that they had moved on to harassing Cress and Thorne, poor guys. Then I saw something even more surprising.

The most terrifying guy in our school, who everyone came to calling Wolf, was talking and laughing with Scarlet. Even from the distance between us I could see the bright emerald green from his eyes, and several scars along his face. Scarlet suddenly reached into her bag, producing a smaller one filled with something red... tomatoes?

I was going to have to seriously ask her what she was doing with him when we left.

Eventually we got tired of dancing, and went to join Cress and Thorne at a table.

"You guys aren't going to dance?" I asked as we sat down across from them.

"We did." Thorne replied. "We didn't really get a choice."

"Oh," Kai and I nodded in understanding.

Suddenly a girl walked into the cafeteria (where the dance was being held), followed by a blonde guy in a fancy guards uniform. My eyes widened. This couldn't be...?

Se had dark chocolate colored skin, with three long scars down her cheek. Her hair was a curly ebony black - and she was beautiful. The dress she wore, and the suit the guy wore pretty much gave away their identity. This was Winter Hayle Blackburn, daughter of Evert and Solstice Hayle, and stepdaughter of Levana Blackburn. The princess of china.

We weren't the only ones that noticed her entrance, even though it was small. About half the people there stopped to watch her. There was about ten seconds of silence before the rumors and gossip started.

 _Is that really her?_

 _She's so pretty!_

 _That guard is so cute!_

 _Why does everyone think she's gorgeous? Those scars are ugly!_

 _Wow, maybe we'll get to talk to her!_

 _Is she really transferring here?_

I wasn't participating in them, though. I didn't know why, but something about her seemed very familiar. I'd heard stories about her, yeah. But I had never seen her on tv or online or anything like that. She should be completely foreign to me, but then why did she look so familiar?

* * *

"So who was that, Scarlet?" Iko teased as the redhead came to sit back down.

"You know very well who he is." Was her reply, her cheeks had a hint of blush.

I sighed, knowing exactly where this was going.

"Émilie! What should their ship name be!" Iko quickly asked.

"Hmmm..." She sat thinking for a few seconds. "Wolf and Scarlet... Maybe Scarf, Scarlf? No... Warlet? Hmm... Oh! I know! Wolflet!" She exclaimed, her and Iko squealing at the ship name.

"It's perfect!" Iko shouted, as Scarlet banged her head on the table. The two girls just laughed, their arms hung loosely on the other's shoulders.

"Do you two ever stop?" I asked, rolling my eyes and asking that question for the millionth time.

"Do we even need to answer that?" Émilie replied.

We started laughing, silenced only when we saw that the girl we assumed was royalty started to approach us; at least that's what we thought. We where silent as she passed us - followed closely by the blonde guard as she headed to the front office that was in the hallway by where we where sitting.

Suddenly she stopped as she was about to exit the cafeteria, halfway turning and looking right at me; giving me a strange sense of deja vu. The way she looked at me seemed so familiar. We shared a similar expression, forming a possibility that she felt the same familiarity.

Without another word, she left to the dark hallway. I could see her speaking to the blonde guard urgently, as if she just discovered something incredible or strange. His expression turned serious, nodding as if he understood whatever important thing she was saying. I saw her gesture to me, which sent a shiver up my spine.

Who exactly was she?

* * *

"Bye Kai, I'll see you on Monday." I waved to him as he drove off, leaving Scarlet, Émilie, Iko, and I at Scarlet's house. Cress was taken home by Thorne, not being able to stay out any later than she already had.

We walked in through the kitchen door, greeted by the warmth of the fire in the living room and the lingering smell of freshly baked cookies that where in a bowl on the table.

"Come on," Scarlet said, grabbing the bowl and going to the stairs to head up to her room. "Unless you want to stay caked in makeup all night."

We followed her up the stairs, and into a typical teenagers room. There where posters on the wall from books, movies, and TV shows. She had a bathroom of to one side, and a small walk-in closet. Her bed was twin-sized and had a scarlet quilt, with a small wolf shown in the bottom right corner and a little girl in the top left - obviously supposed to represent Little Red Riding Hood. She had a covering one wall and a desk in a small part missing the shelf. There was a small collage of pictures, newspaper clippings, photos, etc. of things having to do with her grandmother's farm. It was pretty a pretty small room, but still much bigger than anything I ever remembered having.

"Anyone who needs relief from the horror of make up follow me!" She said, heading into the bathroom. I was the only one to follow her, Iko and Émilie just grabbed a few magazines from the bookshelf and started reading and gossiping on Scar's bed, still in their extravagant homecoming dresses.

"I can't believe I'm related to Émilie sometimes." Scarlet laughed as she tried to remove the concealer that Iko took an hour caking on. "Even though they look nothing alike, it's easier to believe that Iko is her cousin."

"Yeah," I laughed along with her. "So what where you doing with Wolf at the dance?"

Her face suddenly turned a shade almost as red as her hair. "W-we weren't doing anything!"

"Sure..." I said, not believing a word she said.

"He works at the farm every now and then when we need an extra hand, I was just paying him!"

"With what?"

She looked down, "Tomatoes..."

I held back a laugh. "Tomatoes?"

"Yeah, he really likes them."

I smiled. "That's surprisingly cute for a guy that scary."

"Yeah," she said, blushing. "It is."

* * *

After about an hour we _finally_ got all of our makeup off. When we walked back into her bedroom Scarlet facepalmed. There was Iko and Émilie, their makeup gone and their dresses replaced with fancy pajamas. Émilies where a bright pink, with white hearts covering them, and Iko's where plain white with little cake designs on them.

How did they change so fast? Scarlet and I took forever and we even had the bathroom!

Unlike the other two, Scar and I where wearing sleepwear that was a little less fancy. Scarlet was wearing sweatpants and her usual red hoodie, while I was wearing an oversized t-shirt and shorts.

Scarlet rolled her eyes, then head to the tv. "What do ya'll wanna watch?" She asked.

"Oh! Twilight!" Émilie asked, with Iko nodding behind her.

"Yeah, um, no." We said at the same time.

"How about we choose from the things I have with me up here?" Scarlet laid out a stack of about 10-20 movies. Much to Émilie and Iko's dismay she didn't have any of the Twilight movies. "Let's see, we have The Hunger Games, Big Hero 6, Mean Girls, Divergent, The Fault in our Stars, Frozen, etc." She looked up from the movies. "What do you think?"

"Hm, what about this one?" I asked, holding up Big Hero 6. "I haven't seen it since it came out."

We all agreed on it, and watched the movie. By the time it was over the clock read 1:00 a.m. And so we agreed to go to bed.

* * *

Suddenly I was awoken around eight a.m by a beeping from my phone. I looked at the screen to find a text message.

 _To: Cinder Linh_

 _From: Commonwealth Hospital_

 _Message: This text is to inform you that Peony Linh has entered Letumosis, Stage Four, at 7:59 A.M on November 10th._

* * *

 _Next Time- Fields of Gold_

MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

So there is the special extra long chapter! I'm going to read Winter now. Bye!

(Lol, no. When finished I this chapter Winter wasn't out so I was actually going to read Scarlet, but OH WELL HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!)

*:.｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:*

*･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･'(*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)'･*:.｡. .｡.:*･゜ﾟ･*

Peace out Lunartics!

 _(P.S- If you follow me on Instagram, you should know how this chapter nearly gave me a heart attack... Okay. Maybe it gave me a_ small _one. So I opened this draft to edit it and scan in for typos, and the entire thing was gone. And you see how long this part is, it took me two weeks to write. Thankfully it was still saved on my phone! But yeah, I nearly died. So now you can laugh at my almost-misfortune.)_

 **[Present-day author: In which we run into our first plot hole, a sacrifice I made for Scarf *whispers*** ** _it was worth it._** **Anyway, don't question how a** ** _princess_** **managed to end up at a public high school on the other side of the world. It's freshman fangirl logic.]**


	13. 11- Fields of Gold

Hey guys, I know I'm posting this a day early. But I'm bored, so...

I'm apologizing early for the sadness in this chapter *puts up sheild* please don't kill me!

Get ready for a feel-y chapter!

* * *

 **POV- Cinder**

I burst into the hospital, barley even stopping to ask where Peony's current room was. I ran, not even stopping for the elevator. I ignored the throbbing in my thigh and wrist from quickly and hastily attaching my prosthetics after I got the text from the hospital, saying that Peony was— Peony was— No, I wasn't going to think about that. It had to be a mistake, I talked to Cress last night. Her dad had recently made a breakthrough at the labs, they where about to get the cure!

I threw open the door to Peony's room, she was in the bed. Her body looked so small and fragile against the white sheets. Her chestnut hair stuck to her face from sweat, the blueish-purple splotches stuck out against her ghostly pale skin.

"Peony!" I shouted, rushing to the bed and collapsing at her side as she grabbed her right hand — ignoring it's clamminess. "It's me, Cinder, I'm here! No, Peony! The cure, it's almost done! You just have to wait a few more days, just survive a few more days! I-" I hiccuped on the last line, "Please..."

I buried my face in the sheets, my head throbbing. My eyes stung, but I held back the tears. I was so sick of crying, and I certainly wasn't going to cry in front of Peony.

Then, a small voice spoke. Almost no more than just a small breath.

"...Cinder?"

I jerked my head up, my eyes where still painfully dry. "Peony! Yes, Peony?"

Tears where glistening in the corners of her eyes. "It hurts..." She breathed. "I'm being punished." Her eyes where lifeless, dead. Her head was now facing me, but I doubt she actually saw me.

"No Peony, you aren't being punished." I felt like I was choking, a pain being dropped onto my chest.

"Cinder..." A few tears dripped down her cheeks, which I suspected was all the crying she could manage. "I want mom."

"I know," My entire body was shaking. "I know, Peony." That sentence also filled me with rage. What kind of mother wouldn't visit their own child on their deathbed?

Apparently Adri.

"I can see them..." Her arm reached up, as if to grab something in the air. She clenched her fist. "I can finally see the fields of gold."

"Peony..." She shifted her gaze back to me. I took her hand again when she brought it down.

She smiled slightly, though it was so obviously broken. "Thank you for everything, Cinder."

I weakly laughed. "Why are you thanking me? If anything, it should be the other way around."

Her eyes grew sad. "You and the others where the only ones that visited me..." Even after she said those words, she still smiled.

I choked back a sob.

"Cinder," She whispered, one last time. "Thank you."

Her hand went limp in mine. Her eyes where closed and she had a peaceful — serene expression on her face. As if she wasn't dead, but just peacefully sleeping. But the heart monitor said otherwise. The plain flat line stared back at me tauntingly.

I sat there at the side of her bed, my legs to paralyzed to move. My entire body was shaking. My eyes stung, sobs raked my body but the tears wouldn't come.

"Why?" Those words danced on my tongue, barley a whisper. "Why?" I screamed. My head throbbed from a headache that wouldn't leave.

I gently placed Peony's limp arm on the chest of her lifeless body, taking a shaky breath. What was I going to do now? Adri would be furious. I wouldn't be surprised if she threw me out now because of this, she'd probably steal my hand and leg first. Trying to sell them for spare change and leaving me handicapped, crawling around the streets and asking for strangers scraps.

A small buzz came from my pocket. Still trembling, I reached for my phone.

 **23 Unread Messages**

I opened the folder. Most where from Scarlet, Iko, and Emilie, wandering why I suddenly got up and fled from the house.

 _Where are you?_

 _Why did you leave?_

 _What's going on Cinder?_

The rest where from Adri, I ignored those.

Instinctively wiping my face free of the tears that weren't there. I went to each of my friends, into the group chat that Peony had made us. It was easier than just sending them all the same message separately.

 _Peony's dead._

I sent the message, suddenly aware that I was still sitting on the floor of the hospital room by Peony's bed. Taking a shaky breath I stood, unable to process all that just happened.

Peony's dead.

The words sounded so foreign, even in my head. It was such a horrible thought, certainly it was just a dream. A horrible, terrible dream, and I would wake up and find myself back in my bedroom with Peony waking me to get ready for my first day.

How long ago was that? Suddenly I realized that it had almost been two weeks since then, since things where simple. Since Peony was still alive and healthy.

How would I survive without my little sister, without Peony's constant smile and comforting words to get through the day.

My life was over as I knew it, and there was nothing I could do about it.

My phone buzzed, reviling four new texts.

 _What? Please tell me you're kidding Cinder. She can't be dead, my dad... :'(_  
 **-Cress**

 _No way, that's to terrible to be true!_  
 **-Iko**

 _You're joking... right?_  
 **-Scarlet**

 _How? She should've lasted a few more days, right?_  
 **-Emilie**

I looked at the text's with sadness in my heart. They where right, this had to be fake. Not our precious little Peony.

Only it wasn't fake, this was real.

 _Peony was gone, and there was nothing we could do about it._

* * *

 _Next Time- Demons_

*puts up shield* PLEASE DO NOT HURT ME!

I'm sorry for the sad chapter, I actually had half of an even sadder chapter written but then the app crashed?

So yeah, have a nice day!

*flees from several lunar fangirls chasing me* I AM A SHELL! YOU CANNOT HARM ME!

 ** _Q-_** _Have you gotten Winter yet?_

 ** _A-_** _I pre-ordered it over a month ago, and I get to have those cool pre-order prizes. But guess what? IT'S STILL NOT HERE! *mad laughter* I guess they just_ assume _that I don't need it right now. Well I just_ assume _that you won't mind being tortured with glamour._

PLEASE NO WINTER SPOILERS!

I'm serious, I will literally cry if you do. I'm really sensitive when I comes to book spoilers, no matter how small. I saw a small comment on Instagram about *beep* punching *beep* at one point in Winter, and I literally started crying then and there.


	14. 12- Demons

Hi guys...

I'm soooooooooooooo sorry for not updating yesterday. I've been so busy reading Winter (It _finally_ came in!)

It came on Tuesday, and I've been forcing myself to not read more than 100 pages a day?

It's been torture.

I gave up on that rule today.

Anyway, enjoy the chapter!

* * *

 **POV- Cinder**

I walked home slowly after getting my stuff from Scarlet's house. After the emotional trauma from Peony's death, I didn't think I could handle Adri and Pearl. Now, standing outside the apartment door, I wondered why I even bothered coming back in the first place.

Taking a deep breath, I took out my key and unlocked the door; going inside as quickly and quietly as possible. I stopped at the entrance to the living room, Adri and Pearl where sitting on the couch. Pearl was crying into her hands while Adri sat stiffly — as if waiting. When she saw me she stood, at her feet was one large suitcase.

"So you're finally back." She said. "I was starting to wander if you'd even bother to come."

I looked at her, returning the cool gaze. "What do you mean?" I asked emotionlessly.

She kicked the suitcase over to me. "You're sixteen now, that's a legal age to move out."

"You're kicking me out?" I asked in disbelief.

Sneering, she glared at me. "The only reason I even kept you around in the first place was — by some weird miracle — Peony took a liking to you. Now that she's gone, I don't see the point in you staying here any longer."

I couldn't believe it. I knew Adri was cruel, but this was a whole new level.

"I suggest you leave now. I've placed all of your belongings in this suitcase, you can go scan your room for anything I may have missed. But I expect you to be gone by sunset. If not — I'm calling the police." With that, she turned stiffly. She grabbed Pearl's hand and dragged her along into the master bedroom.

I pivoted on my heels, grabbing the suitcase and drag it into my bedroom. I sat on my bed, scanning the small room for anything. Then I slipped onto the floor and stuck my hand under the mattress, slipping my hand in a small tear on the platform. I retracted my hand, holding a wad of money. My life savings.

Every now and then I would sneak a bit of money I earned doing dd jobs around the neighborhood — mostly fixing malfunctioning air conditioners or changing the tires on someones car. Of course, Adri received most of it; but every now and then I would sneak a few dollars and hide them.

Spreading our the money I stared counting — it turned out I had saved almost 500$. I nearly laughed. It was way more than I thought there'd be, but not nearly enough to get an at least decent apartment. And I doubted Adri was going to give me any. I sighed and stuck the money into the outer packet of the suitcase. After I was sure I had all of my belongings, I picked up the handle on the luggage and started rolling it out of the apartment.

I passed Peony's old room, slightly pausing and staring into the room that was once filled with bright posters and furniture. I walked into the room, going to a small board holding several pictures of Kai, then there where the drawings.

They where small, just little sketches hastily colored with hearts glued to the corners and things like _Kaider_ , _I ship it!_ and _OTP_ written in curly letters. There where pictures of Kai and Me (sometimes Kai and her), Thorne and Cress, and Scarlet and Wolf.

It wouldn't be too long till Adri did a sweep of Peony's room, selling anything of value and throwing out childish drawings like these. Without even thinking, I took the photo's and drawings from the wall and placed them in my bag.

 **...**

"Of course! She didn't even leave you any money." Iko was furious. I had been staying in her apartment the last few days, we where currently trying to find any apartments that I could afford in the newspaper. "This is ridiculous! And she just expects you to _magically_ grow a money tree and survive!"

"Just drop it already, Iko. There's nothing we can do about it now." I scanned the paper.

"I'm just saying." She lifted her hands in surrender.

"Iko! Cinder!" Émilie burst in, her phone in her hand and an excited expression on her face. "I found this really nice apartment for super cheap!" She smiled. "Only $600 every two months!"

I sighed. "That would be great, if I had that."

She sighed, placing her free hand on her hip. "You didn't let me finish. The owners of the apartments are the parents of a hood friend of mine. They're willing to lower the price to 500$ for the first few months."

"That's great!" Iko shouted standing to go give Émilie a hug.

"Yeah, except I'm still short around twenty bucks." I placed my head in my hands, groaning.

Iko rolled her eyes. "Don't be so negative, Cinder. I can pay the difference."

I smiled slightly. "I couldn't ask that of you Iko, after letting me stay unexpectedly. And helping me search."

"Well, you don't have a choice in the matter. Come on Cinder, we're going to get that apartment." Iko grabbed my arm, forcing my to stand and follow her.

The way there was filled with several protests from me, and hushes from Iko. When we _finally_ got there I was extremely shocked.

It was in the Rampion neighborhood. "Émilie, what are we doing here?" I asked.

Let me explain. The Rampion is basically this really wealthy area of town, you know the popular people in school who are popular for nothing other than the fact that they live in this _really_ rich neighborhood. This was that place.

Yeah, we where only at the edge. The place with the apartments, but they where really nice apartments.

"Émilie, how much was the apartment originally?" I asked, my voice shaking.

"Only 600!" She said.

I gave her a disbelieving look.

" _Okay_ , maybe it was 12,000 per month. But I told my boyfriend the story and his family insisted that you stay in the apartments, so they lowered the price for you!"

I laughed, giving her a hug. "You're insane! Thanks Émilie!"

* * *

Okay, chapter's done. I'm going to read Winter now.

I just passed the part with Scarlet and Winter and the special operatives. Yeah.

 _Q- What do you like about Winter best so far? (No spoilers!)_

 _A- The way it's written! And how Marissa shows how Cinder isn't invincible *cough* throne room and lake scene *cough*_  
 _I also love the way she writes Winter as a character, she is adorable!_

Kiki?


	15. 13- Welcome to the Rampion

Hey guys!

Here's the next chapter of Luna High.

I finished Winter.

What do I do with my life now?

I changed the characters POV thing, tell me if you think I should keep it, or go back to the old way.

* * *

 ** _•Scarlet•_**

I sighed, placing my head in my hands as I waited for the bell to ring. It was sixth period now, Cress was the only other person here today and we where both leaving to help Cinder settle in when we where released this period. Émilie was supposed to pick us up, but for some reason I doubted she would be on time.

After what seemed like _hours_ of waiting, the bell finally rung to release us to last period — or in our case, home. I met Cress outside the classroom, where she was waiting for me.

"Come on Cress, we don't want to keep Émilie waiting."

She nodded, following closely behind me as we exited the school. Suddenly I stopped in my tracks. Sitting on a bench by the sidewalk was a certain guy, holding an iPhone in his hand as he was oblivious to us standing there.

"Wait here for Émilie, Cress. I'll be just a moment." I handed her my bag and started walking towards Ze'ev.

Standing behind him I put my hands on my hips. "What do you think you're doing mister? Skipping class?"

He seemed startled by my presence, turning around quickly. Relaxing when he saw it was only me, he said "Oh, no. I just have a free period, Scarlet."

I went around to sit next to him. "That's right, you're a grade above me, they offer that if you have enough credits."

"Yeah..."

I smiled jokingly. "So did you already finish those tomatoes I gave you last week? I could get you some more if you ran out."

He laughed, his emerald eyes shining with humor. "Thanks for the offer, but I still have a few left."

I shook my head. "I don't see how you go through them so fast! I gave you — what — twenty last time?"

"Twenty-five."

"My point exactly!"

We sat there in the awkward silence, laughing slightly. Suddenly a car horn tore our gazes towards the parking lot. Cress was standing by a car, and Émilie was sticking her head out.

"Came on Scarling! We know your _madly_ in love, and I ship Wolflet completely! But Cinder and Iko are waiting for us back at the apartment, _let's go!_ "

I felt hear rushing to my face, "Shut up Émilie!" I yelled. Quickly saying goodbye to Ze'ev (who was also growing red) I rushed to the car to meet Cress and Émilie.

"Could you at least _try_ to be a little more mature?" I asked my cousin.

"Nope!" She replied cheerfully.

* * *

 **•Cinder•**

"Ugh, why do these things have to be so heavy!" Iko complained as we dropped the small couch into my new living room.

"Just be happy that the apartments owners where kind enough to give us some spare furniture that they had in storage." I scolded her, though she was right. The love-seat couch was way too heavy for its size. It had an older style, the seats where a rosy pink and the back curved like several antique couches she'd seen in stores.

The owners of the apartment complex where kind, and though they had given her one of the smallest apartments in the building, it was still a huge improvement from the one she was used to. They had given her a few pieces of furniture, including a small table and a couple of chairs, and a mini-fridge. They didn't have a bed unfortunately, but seeing ad I didn't have a place to sleep they lent me an old Japanese-styled futon until I could afford a bed (the family actually immigrated from Japan a few years before their son — Émilie's boyfriend — was born). I was actually surprised how comfortable the thing was, considering it was the size of a large sleeping bag.

"Come on, Iko. Let's go bring the last few chairs in."

We left the living room and headed through the small hallway towards the front door. I was still amazed at how nice this place was. There was a tv/computer _built into the wall_ in the living room. The bathroom was a million times nicer than the one Adri had, the shower was separate and there was an old-fashioned claw-foot tub. There where also two bedrooms, both the same size but still nice. The kitchen was kind of small, and there was a bar in the living room that peered into it, with an archway leading to the hall at the front of the apartment and the living room. The hall/entryway had dark wood floors and the living room had gray carpet, along with the two bedrooms, and the kitchen and bathroom had plain white tile.

Suddenly the doorbell rung for the apartment, and I could see Cress, Scarlet, and Émilie through the open front door.

"It took you long enough, come in you guys!" Iko said, waving them inside.

"Make yourselves at home, I'm just going to get the chairs from the hall." I said, walking into the hallway outside my apartment and hoisting up the two kitchen chairs. I turned around to walk back in, using my foot to swing the door closed behind me.

I walked through the living room into the kitchen where everyone was gathered.

"Have you seriously not opened the kitchens curtains yet, Cinder?" Scarlet asked in disbelief.

"I wanted to," I replied, setting the chairs down at the small table. "But those two wouldn't let me." I gestured accusingly at Iko and Émilie.

Iko smiled slyly, a twinkle of humor in her eyes. "I wanted to see everyones reaction at the same time!" She said, grabbing the edge of one of the light blue curtains. Quickly and gracefully she pulled the curtains back, reviling a beautiful view of one of the nicest houses I'd ever seen. It was ginormous mansion, in the style of a small castle. There was a perfect view of some of the prettiest gardens I could ever dream of.

I couldn't believe my eyes, Cress and Scarlet wore the same expression as me.

"What- Who lives there?" I asked in disbelief.

Iko and Émilie smirked.

"Why _mademoiselle_ , it's the home of Kaito Prince."

* * *

So there's the chapter!

Funny story (some of you probably already know).

So somehow when I was in the middle of writing the part, Wattpad decided to publish it. So yeah.

 **AND IT WOULD NOT LET ME UN-PUBLISH IT!**

So yeah...

The worst part was that **PEOPLE KEPT VOTING ON IT! DON'T LIKE IT! IT WASN'T FINISHED OR EDITED!**

*cries*


	16. 14- The Walls Are Bleeding

Hey guys!

Surprise, new chapter!

I just started writing, and *sob* I have school tomorrow, so I can't stay up late into the night finishing the first chapter of my new fanfiction, In Memory Of...

Yep, it happened again. I might not publish this one for a while, but if you follow my Instagram, it's based on those headcannons I made a while back. With Cinder and Kai's children and Iko's child and Cress and Thorne's daughter.

Yeah...

I'm apologizing ahead of time for Winter's POV, for some reason I'm finding it really hard to write in first person on her. Oh well.

Enjoy this part!

* * *

 ** _•Winter•_**

"Jacin." I could smell the sickly red liquid, knowing that when I opened my eyes it would be a million times worse. I felt the blood dripping from the ceiling onto my shoulders, dripping down my arms and back. Leaving a thin scarlet trail down its path.

"Jacin!" I was shaking, the blood was mixing with the snow falling in through the open window. Frost was creeping up my toes, painfully crackling as my skin turned to ice.

"Winter!" Jacin burst into the bedroom, the blood that was falling onto the door splattered everywhere, leaving droplets on my face. I could feel the blood slowly oozing out of the bed I was sitting on.

"Jacin." Terror was filling my voice, I could feel my entire body shaking. Letting out a small whimper, I whispered. "The walls are bleeding."

Jacin started walking quickly towards me, but it felt like an eternity passed. His shoes making sucking sounds as he trudged through the red liquid. Growing thicker and thicker and thicker...

"Winter," Jacin said, pulling me into his arms. "It's just an illusion, there's no blood. Your fine."

He sat beside me on the bed, the coldness from the ice slowly slipping from my bones and skin. I felt the sticky sensation receding, till there was just the slight coldness of sweat.

I slowly peeled open my eyes, taking several shaky breaths.

"Better?" Jacin asked, still holding me. I nodded. And Jacin released me, moving to close the window. "Winter, you do realize that you can take medicine for the hallucinations. I'm sure several places would love to help the beloved Princess of China."

"You know it's more complicated than that." I said, looking down. "Levana wouldn't allow it. Being sane is the only thing she can hold over me."

He sighed, "Well, there's no point trying to get more sleep. It's five a.m already, you need to start getting ready for your first day of school."

I nodded, today I was supposed to go to high school. I was supposed to see what a normal life was like. It took ages to convince Levana, and it was nearly impossible to hide my true reason of coming here. There as evidence that Selene went to this school. _My_ Selene.

"Come on, Winter. I'll call a maid to help you get ready."

* * *

 ** _•Cinder•_**

I sighed, stepping out of the passenger's seat of Scarlet's old truck. I ended up missing a week of school trying to find an apartment and get settled, not to mention find a good paying job. Eventually I did end up finding one, there was a small car repair shop right outside the Rampion neighborhood; and after successfully changing all four tires on a car in less than fifteen minutes, the owner hired me.

"Come on Cinder." Scarlet said, grabbing her bag and slamming the trucks door. "Let's get going, Cress and Iko are supposed to meet us in the library."

We started walking down the parking lot to the school, Scarlet was holding a freshly brewed coffee in her hand (when Scarlet called me that morning to ask if I wanted one, I refused).

"Remind me again why we're meeting in the _library_ of all places?" I said, glancing at Scarlet questioningly.

"No one goes to the back, the place is huge. I swear it's the size of a small elementary school. We always meet in the fairy tale section, it's on the second floor and there's a small door there that leads to the hallway we have first period in." Scarlet blew on her coffee, taking a sip. "Is there a problem with that?"

"No," I replied. "It just seems like an unlikely place to meet in the morning."

We walked through the front doors of the school passing several groups of students on our way to the library. After another few minutes of walking we where climbing up the last few steps to the second floor, and heard singing. Scarlet led the way through the shelves of books, till we came across a shelf by a door that read _Hallway E2_.

Sitting by the shelf, peering around the corner to a small alcove was Iko and Cress. There was a small sign sticking out from the shelf at the corner reading _Fairy Tales_.

"Cress, Iko." I whispered, "What's going on?"

The soft and sweet melody was coming from around the corner in the fairy tale section. " _...and the Earth is full tonight, tonight...and the wolves all howl, aa-ooooooooooo..._ "

"See for yourself." Iko replied, moving over so we could peer around the shelves.

I was shocked at what I saw, sitting down at a six-chair table was Winter and her guard. Winter was singing the lullaby, while holding in her hands one of the books. From my position I could barley make out the title — Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

"What is she doing here?" Scarlet asked, her voice in a low whisper.

" _And the parakeets sing ta-weet-a-weet-a-weet, and the stars twinkle all the night..._ "

"We don't know, reading?" Iko suggested.

"No, duh."

" _The monkeys frolic, a-eet-eet-eet, while the rockets fly on by..._ "

"What do we do?" I asked.

"Maybe we should just leave?" Cress asked, twirling her hair nervously.

" _And the Earth is full tonight, tonight, and the wolves all how, aa-oooo-_ "

"Come on Winter, first period is about to start." The blonde guy interrupted her singing and stood.

"Yes, Jacin."

There was mini chaos then, everything seemed to happen at once. Iko and Scarlet started ushering Cress and me to the door.

"Go, go, go!" They whispered in urgent tones.

"We are, calm down!" I snapped back, making sure to keep my voice low.

Cress was the first one out, followed by me, Iko, then Scarlet. We quickly sprinted down the hall, before we all collapsed laughing.

"Oh...my...stars..." Iko panted, "That was so cool!"

"Um... Guys?" Scarlet piped in. "I think I left my bag in there."

We all glanced at each other for a moment, Scarlet stood. "I'm going to go get it."

We gasped, making the situation much more dramatic than it needed to be. Scarlet started walking down the hall, and our eyes followed her. She stopped by the library door, grabbing the handle just as it was pushed open.

Scarlet ran straight into Princess Winter.

* * *

So there's the chapter!

I hope you enjoyed!

I don't think anything else will be updated till Friday (-_-)

Stupid school?

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed!

Q- Are you writing any TLC fanfictions? I'm searching for some good ones to read.


	17. 15- Princess Winter

Hey guys!

Here's the chapter. I know, it's really late today

As soon as we got home from school we took a two-hour drive from our house to my Aunt and Uncles for a Christmas light show, and then drove home. This entire chapter was actually written on the drive there and back. So yeah.

I spent the whole drive on Wattpad and listening to _Angel Beats!_ music.

Most people would say I have no life. They're jealous, I just know how to have fun on car rides without a phone or wifi (I'm on my iPad)

I got tired of waiting for the Cresswell parts, so I'm kinda doing the end of Cinder, al of Scarlet and Cress, and the begging of Winter right now

Way to go Kiki! Make things complicated for yourself!

* * *

 ** _•Scarlet•_**

I stumbled backwards, falling to the floor before I could run into the beautiful girl.

"Are you alright?" She asked, hovering over me with an alarmed look on her face. Her pretty face that held three long scars from her left eye to her jaw. Her chocolate-brown eyes where filled with worry. Her long curly black hair framed her face and fell down her back. She held out her hand, I took it and she helped me up.

"Thanks," I said, looking down.

"You're welcome!" She said smiling. Suddenly — without warning — she took a lock of my hair in her hand, studying it. "Your hair is red, is it burning?" She bent down slightly to smell my hair.

Normally that would have been wrong, creepy, and maybe a little bit perverted. But the way she did it, it was so graceful, so sweet, so innocent. I couldn't bring myself to nock her away.

"It does not smell like burning, that's good." She looked back up at me, smiling. "What is your name?"

"Scarlet."

"Like the hair!" I saw the blonde guard behind her, glaring cooly at me as if to say _'Lay one finger on her and you're dead.'_ "It was nice to meet you, Scarlet-Friend!"

I nodded as the guard grabbed her wrist and dragged her away down the hall. I was still dumbfounded as I quickly went to grab my bag.

 _Scarlet-Friend?_

* * *

"She did what?" Iko whisper-yelled.

I sighed, leaning in on my desk. "She sniffed my hair, called me Scarlet-Friend, and left."

"Wow. You where called a friend. By a _princess_?!"

"Am I the only one who thinks that sniffing Scarlet's hair is — I don't know — _creepy_?" Cinder asked from her desk next to me.

"I don't know, the way she did it wasn't creepy. It was more... Graceful?"

She laughed, "I'd love to see someone sniff your hair _gracefully_."

"I would too." Iko agreed.

Suddenly Mrs. Benoit called everyone to attention, starting class. I hadn't noticed it before — but there was Winter and her guard at the front of the classroom.

"We have two new student's in class today, and I'm sure you all know one of them. Please make Miss Winter Hayle Blackburn and Mister Jacin Clay feel welcome." She then turned to them, and I could barley hear. "Winter, dear, why don't you go sit in front of my grandaughter, Scarlet. I'm sure she and her friends would be happy to help you if you asked. And Jacin, I'm afraid I don't have seat open right next to her, but why don't you go by Émilie. That's only a few seats away." He looked like he wanted to protest, but Winter took his hand — smiling at him as if to say _'It'll be fine.'_ And Jacin reluctantly took his seat. Winter then headed to the back, sitting in front of me and turning around in her seat.

"Hello, Scarlet-Friend!" She said, smiling happily before turning her attention to the front. As she did so her attention snagged on Cinder. Then, in a voice so faint I'm sure I was the only one who heard, "My Selene?"

The voice was soft, yet filled with sadness and question, as if it where just a mirage that she was afraid of fading.

* * *

 ** _•Cress•_**

I was walking home from school when it happened, I'm still not sure exactly what it was. But I was sure that it should have happened to someone else.

"Cress!"

The voice shouted from behind me, approaching quickly. I was about two miles from the school at the moment, walking on the side walk quickly to try and get home before Sybil's curfew.

"Cress! Wait up!"

 _Keep walking,_ I thought, _It's just your imagination, he's not there._

"Hey," A hand grabbed my shoulder from behind. "Wait up for a minute, will you?"

Standing there, towering over me, was Carswell Thorne.

"Um..." I looked down, not knowing what to say.

"Cress, I was sorta wandering... Maybe... If it's not too much trouble, if you could possibly come with me to a café or something? To hang out."

"Oh," Was all I managed to say. "When?"

"Um, right now, actually..." He laughed nervously. "So what do you say?"

"I-I'm sorry, I can't. Not now." I tried to pass him, quickly checking the time on my phone in my jacket's pocket. 4:16. Stars above, I had to be home by 4:30 — and I still had two miles left to walk home.

He stopped me. "Tomorrow then?"

"I'm really sorry Mr. Thorne. But I can't." I attempted to pass him again, with no success.

"Any time this week?"

"I'm really, truly sorry Mr-"

"Just Thorne, or Captain. It's what my friends call me... Well... Not Captain, but it's only a mater of time!"

"Captain, I wish I could, really. But I just have so much work to do. I'm sorry."

His smile wavered into a weak grin. "Maybe lunch then?"

I returned the weak smile. "Sure, as long as it's on campus."

The grin strengthened. "Yeah."

He let me walk away then, and I could hear from behind me a huge "YES!"

I laughed slightly, checking the time again on my phone. My eyes widened. 4:24.

I started sprinting along the sidewalk, hoping I could at least make it without being too late.

* * *

"Where where you?!" Sybil shouted as I set my bag down, panting heavily.

"I'm sorry, I just got a bit sidetracked!"

"Sidetracked? I bet you where off playing with your band of misfits!" She gathered a pile of papers from a desk. "Take these up to your room and make files on them, secure. I don't want some stupid student getting cocky and trying to hack the program and change the grades."

"Yes, Mistress." I said, taking the papers and heading up to my room. It wasn't very big, but it was usable. Half of it was filled with computers, so usually it was pretty hot — forcing me to open the windows in the winter.

I set the papers by a keyboard, sighing.

"I was only one minute late, you'd thing she'd go easy on me..." I looked at the stack of paper, it was at least one foot high. It would be another all-nighter, but I could do it.

I flicked the power button on my computer, watching the screens flicker to life. I opened a tab, going onto Soundcloud — I hated the constant ads on Pandora (No, I'm not hacking the website. I'm not a criminal). Clicking on a playlist, my opera music started playing.

I started working, going late into the night. Still filled with joy from Thorne.

* * *

 _Next Time- On Top of the World_

So there's the chapter!

I hope ya'll enjoyed the Cresswell! *whispers* I did...🌚

So I was all happy today because WEEKEND IS FINALLY HERE!

Then I realized... Tomorrow's Saturday... After Saturday is Sunday... After Sunday is Monday... _School's_ on Monday... I have a play in drama after school... I play an insane mom...

(School=Bad Word)

So that's how my mind works!

Q- Are you in a relationship or stalking someone (aka, have a crush currently)?

A- No, but my best friend has a had a really big crush for a while now. And today in lunch some jerk guy that hangs around one of her friends (who hates him) said that he didn't like her and was creeped out by her. She spent thirty minutes crying in the bathroom corner, the whole second half of lunch. I felt so bad, not knowing what to do. I offered to buy her ice cream or a cookie, but she didn't answer... I feel so bad for her, especially since the guy was most likely lying...


	18. 16- On Top of the World

Hey guys!

 ** _DON'T KILL ME I BEG YOU!_**

I'm soooooooooooooooooo sorry I didn't update yesterday!

I have a good reason!

I hardly got any free time this week! (Finals are next week in school)

My friend came home with me from school to spend the night, so I didn't really get time to write yesterday. But today I decided "Hey, I'm going to write this chapter before the readers kill me!"

The start of the chapter isn't really good, when I started writing I had bad writers block😭 (especially since I wrote like 300 words yesterday before the app crashed)

But here's the chapter now! So yay! (Maybe?)

* * *

 ** _•Cress•_**

I yawned as I exited the school, my hands clasped behind my back. I hummed a little tune as I walked, a lullaby my mom sung to me before she died, and one my dad still sung every now and then.

" _Sweet Crescent Moon, up in the sky... You sing you song so sweetly after sunshine passes by..._ "

"That's a pretty song."

I gasped, turning around to find Thorne standing there.

"Sorry, did I startle you?" He asked.

"N-no!" I stuttered, looking down quickly.

He smiled his sweet, quirky, mischievous smile.

"Hey, I'v been meaning to ask you. Why is your hair so long? I'v seen you get annoyed with it so many times, why don't you cut it?"

"Oh, um. My stepmother never has enough time to take me to a salon or cut it herself, and she doesn't trust me to do it myself." I couldn't believe I was telling him this!

He paused for a moment, and then smiled again. "Here, I'll take you. If you want!"

A flash of hope crossed my face, for a split second, then faltered.

"Come on! Let's go!" He grabbed my wrist, running quickly down the side walk. And as we ran, my worries slowly disappeared.

* * *

"Are you sure about this, Thorne?"

"Trust me, I'm a master!"

We where sitting in his room, which I was extremely confused why at first. But one thing was certain, his house was _huge_. It was obvious that his parents where _extremely_ rich.

"Here, close your eyes and wait!" He tied a headband around my eyes, and I felt my head become released of a suddenly unbearable weight. It was like that for about ten minutes before Thorne finally removed the blindfold.

I looked into the mirror and my eyes widened. Thorne bent down to my level. "The short hair, it works!"

I smiled, finally free of that small burden.

I turned to face him. "Thank you Thorne."

I stood, looking to the wall clock. My eyes widened, 6:00.

I jumped up, rushing to grab my bag. "I'm sorry Thorne, I have to go!"

His smile faltered. "Already? Don't tell me you don't like the hair, 'cause if you don't I'm going to feel like a complete jerk!"

"No, it's not you. I'm sorry."

I ran from his room, down the long staircase and outside. Silent tears falling down my cheeks as I ran under the sunset into the night.

* * *

Stars where appearing by the time I got home, I prayed that this was one of the rare nights that my father was home early. I opened the door to the house, all the lights where off. I silently creeped inside, hoping that Sybil was out and hasn't come home yet.

I rushed upstairs into my room, dropping my bag onto my bed and letting out a sigh of relief. My blood suddenly ran cold as the door to my room slammed. I turned around quickly. Sybil was leaning against the door, fire in her eyes.

Then, in a sickly sweet voice that you would use to tell a child goodnight, she spoke. "What time is it, Crescent Moon Darnel?"

I couldn't answer I was paralyzed in fear. No no no no _no_! This couldn't be happening, I was dead. Suddenly she moved with incredible speed forcing me against the wall, yet her voice was still frighteningly sweet.

"I'll ask you one more time, _Crescent_." Tears started falling down my cheeks. " _What time is it?_ "

I slightly glanced to one of my computer monitors.

"S-six twenty five." I squeaked, fear obvious in my voice.

She used all her strength to throw me to the ground.

"Why are you late, Crescent?" She spat. My entire right side hurt from the blow, and I knew I was going to have bruises for days.

"I-I-"

"And what happened to your hair?" She grabbed my left arm, hoisting me up.

She threw me on the bed, and I yelped. "You're grounded, if I see you with those punks any more..." She sighed, dragging a hand down her face. "If I see you with those hooligans again, trust me. There will be hell to pay."

I prayed that she would leave, or that I would wake up and be dismissed from this nightmare.

If course, I wasn't even a bit lucky.

"I left your work on the desk by your computers. I expect it to be done by morning." After that, she left the room. Slamming the door after her.

I already knew that there would be punishment for me in gym class. Probably running all period, or having to do the most painful exercises she could think of. Maybe she'd send me to do her entire days computer work and punish me if it wasn't finished at the end of the period.

I rubbed my right arm, the one that got most of the blows. There where several small scrapes, only one or two where bleeding. There was one bleeding cut on my face from it scraping across the wall. I wiped the small droplets of blood away before they could mix with my tears.

Now Sybil would practically kill me if she saw me with any one of my friends. Now it was going back to my simple lonely life. And I couldn't do anything about it. I could _never_ do anything about it.

Without thinking I curled up on my bed, sobs shaking my body. Through the painful breaths I sang.

" _Sweet Crescent Moon... Up in the sky... You sing your song so sweetly after sunshine passes by..._ "

I didn't even notice my fathers hands wrapping around me. I didn't hear him enter or ask me what was wrong, what happened. Or hear him cry at the sight of his sweet daughter, sobbing and broken on her bed. I didn't hear his heart breaking, or his apologies for not being able to help prevent my pain.

I didn't hear him start singing the lullaby alongside me.

" _Sweet Crescent Moon, up in the sky... You sing your song so sweetly after sunshine passes by..._ "

* * *

Okay, your probably going to kill me now anyways.

I'MSOSORRYPLEASEFORGIVEMEIDON'TWANTTODIE!

But yeah...

I'm going to run and hide before you guys become Cress, track down my location, and murder me in my sleep!

BYEGUYS!


	19. 17- Alone

Here's the new chapter guys!

I'm really sorry if my writing quality has decreased the last few chapters, I have really bad writers block. And at the same time I really want to write fanfiction😅

Oh, and I made a new book! It's called _The Lunar Chronicles~ A Mermaid Tail_ , and guess which couple it's centered around... 😏😏😏

•

•

•

Cresswell!

I'm finally making a Cresswell FanFiction! Don't worry, I'm including the other ships. Just it's mainly Cresswell.

And guess what, CRESS IS A MERMAID!

So yeah, you should check it out.

* * *

 ** _•Cress•_**

I awoke to the sound of birds outside my window, such a pretty sound still managed to exist. I sluggishly sat up, looking at the clock I saw that it was 7:15, I only got two hours of sleep.

I stretched, slipping out of bed and heading to the hall bathroom. I showered, slipping into my favorite light blue dress. I suddenly realized it was the one I wore the last time Peony went to school, the first time Cinder did.

Pushing the thought away I went downstairs, slipping in my shoes and walking outside. It was snowing, I shivered slightly as I began the endless walk to school.

Finally I reached the parking lot, and I began to walk across it. I didn't look up, I spent my time concentrating on the small footprints my shoes left in the snow.

"Cress! Watch out!" I suddenly felt a huge weight pushing my of my feet sideway. A second later a truck went barreling past. I landed with a thump on the ground, yelping because of my injuries from the night before. I heard several terrified screams, and I looked to where I had just been standing.

Terror filled my mind. Laying in a heap on the road, blood coming from an unseen cut on his head, was Thorne.

* * *

"I really am sorry, Mister and Misses Thorne. Something happened to my car, I don't know what."

I was in a hospital room, sitting on one of the two beds as a doctor wrapped my bruised arm. Sybil had been the one driving.

Thorne was in the next room over, being treated for a severe concussion.

"The thing I don't understand is why he went risking his life to save that sour _excuse_ for a girl!" Sybil stated. "I swear, that Crescent is a walking bad luck charm! No wonder her father isn't he-"

"Where is my daughter, Sybil." I heard someone ask. I few seconds later I realized it was my father.

"You seriously came?" She asked in disbelief.

"Of course I did." He stated. "What troubles me is why you didn't call telling me you almost ran her over!"

"H-how did you even-"

"I work at the labs here, Sybil. One of the doctors where kind enough to call me at the school."

"Bu-"

"You are no longer welcome at my home, and I suggest you leave."

There was a slight pause, before I heard her footsteps stomping off.

I saw my dad appear in the doorway, looking at me with concerned eyes.

I looked down. "Hey."

A pained expression formed on his face. "Don't you 'hey' me, missy. Do you realize how worried I was!" He rushed across the room, wrapping me in his arms. "I saw the work she was giving you. How long has that been going on?"

"Since she moved in." I said, looking down.

He sat next to me, placing his head in his hands. "I never knew. I'm so stupid."

"You're not stupid." I said, playfully shoving him. "You just work too much."

"So I'm told." He sighed, raising his head. "Have they updated you on Thorne?"

"No, last I heard about him was around an hour ago."

"I see." He placed his head back in his hands. "They just told me. It appears he'll survive-"

I let out a sigh of relief.

"-but he appears to be temporarily blind."

My eyes widened. "No. You're kidding, right?"

"Unfortunately not."

I looked down to my hands, folded neatly in my lap.

"Will he still be going to school?"

"Yes, buy he would need a helper. One of his classmates, and I expect he's going to request _you_."

I squeaked. " _Me?_ "

"Yes, you."

"Why me?" I asked.

"Are you blind, Crescent Moon? He obviously likes you."

Blush formed on my cheeks, I shook my head defiantly. "No he doesn't!"

"My dear Crescent Moon, are you blushing?"

"Nope. I most certainly am not!"

His teasing smile faded from his lips, replaced with a grim expression. Once again he placed his head in his hands, and only now I realized he was fighting back tears.

"There's something else I should tell you, Crescent." He was shaking.

"What, dad?"

Taking in a weak breath, he sat up. Tears where streaming down his face.

"I have Letumosis."

* * *

 ** _•Thorne•_**

Pain filled my head, was I dead? No way, the great Carswell Thorne couldn't die young and handsome! I was cold, I felt like my mind was about to explode.

Either that or I had a really bad headache.

I slowly opened my eyes, I blinked. Confused, I blinked again. And again.

Rubbing my eyes I started to stand, it finally occurred to me that the lights where off. I probably was still in my room at home. My feet touched the cold stone floor. Strange, my bedroom floors where wood, and I had a rug under my bed. I felt something being ripped off my wrist.

"Owww!" I cursed, placing my opposite hand on the pained area. Suddenly I heard a loud beep. Like one of those heart monitors in hospitals.

Wait, hospital?!

Damn it! All that wasn't a dream! Oh god, was Cress okay?

Suddenly I heard someone rushing in, "Mr. Thorne, please sit back down. You need rest!"

"Huh? Who are you?"

"My name is Darla, I'm your nurse."

"That makes sense, I guess?"

"Please sit back down, sir."

I groaned, "Fine," I said, obeying. "And can you _please_ turn on the light?"

"Mr. Thorne, I'm sorry I have to be the one to tell you this. But you're temporarily blind."

I paused. "What?"

"I can see you need some time to let this settle in, but please lay down."

She placed the little needle thing back in my wrist, setting up the equipment again.

Before she left she stopped. "Oh, that's right. Mr. Thorne who do you want to be your helper at school. Your 'eyes', we need to know before we can arrange for you to return."

"Cress." I said, without hesitation. "Crescent Moon Darnel."

* * *

 _Next Time- Christmas Special, Mistletoe Kisses- Where everything's alright_

Sorry for another depressing chapter!😅

So I started writing a special Christmas one-shot the other day. My goal is to make it at least 5,000 words long, and I'm probably going to release it next Friday (on Christmas) instead of a chapter. Because 5,000 words is A LOT.

Q- Do you celebrate Christmas, and what are you doing on Winter break?

A- Yes! I celebrate Christmas! I'm really excited for after it though, we're visiting my aunt in Washington DC for New Years! And I'v never been up the east coast before! And I plan on writing allot during the break, probably on What If?, Luna Beach, and A Mermaid Tail (and, of course, the Christmas special)


	20. Christmas Special! Mistletoe Kisses

MERRY CHRISTMAS GUYS!

It's here! It's finally here!

And I'v never felt less Christmassy in my life😕

Anyway, here's the Christmas one-shot that I worked on for HOURS. Literally, I lost sleep worrying about not finishing this. But it's done now, so I hope you enjoy!

* * *

 ** _•Mistletoe Kisses•_**

 ** _—_** _When Everything's Alright_ ** _—_**

 ** _•Cinder•_**

 **"C** inder, are you there?"

"Yeah Kai!" I shouted across my boyfriend's bedroom. I was sitting on Kai's (ridiculously large) bed, going through old photo albums of when we where younger. Just friends from fifth grade all through the junior year of high school, when he finally asked me out.

He walked into his bedroom, smiling as he sat next to me on the bed, placing his arm around me. "Guess what Cinder?"

"What?" I asked, giggling at the serious tone of his voice.

"Look up."

I glanced to the small chandelier above his bed, rolling my eyes at the sight of mistletoe and laughing at his childish kiss on my cheek. Then my lips.

"You're so immature sometimes." I claimed.

"It's Christmas Eve, I have a right to be childish!"

After saying that he removed his arm from around me, standing and racing across the room to his christmas tree. He grabbed two presents from under the green branches.

"Here!" He said, giving one to me. "Open it!"

"Kai, you have to open yours first."

"Why?"

"Trust me!"

He laughed, shaking his head as he removed the silver wrapping from the box.

"No way, I'v always wanted a box!"

"Stop goofing off and read the label already, it took me and Peony hours to find it." I said, playfully scolding him.

"Okay, okay. I'll be serious from here on out." He turned the box around, his eyes widening as he read the label. "No way..." He muttered. "No way..."

He opened the box after reading the label of childish elementary-schoolers handwriting.

 _To be opened the Christmas we turn eighteen._

He unfolded the box, laughing at it's contents. "You seriously kept this?"

"Well, I never threw it away. Peony wouldn't let me."

He removed the contents from the box, two small hastily gift-wrapped presents. One of them read _To Cinder_ while the other read _To Kai_.

They where from the gift exchange during fifth grade. We just happened to get each other as partners, and for some odd reason we decided to wait till we where both eighteen to open them. I guess it gave us the sense of mystery, as if we had a secret being kept between the two of us.

"I'm not even sure if I remember what I got you." Kai said, laughing.

"Me neither, it was so long ago."

"Let's open them in three... two... one!"

We each unwrapped the gifts, opening the small boxes to reveal a piece of paper.

Confused, I picked up the small ripped fragment of notebook paper.

 _I really like you, do you like me?_  
 _Circle one_  
 _Yes No_

I laughed, looking up to see what I gave him. He smiled, showing me the paper to read.

 _I think I like you, Kai_  
 _Love, Cinder_

"Looks like we always had a thing for each other." Kai said, smiling at me. I felt a hint of blush appear, and he leaned over to kiss me on the cheek.

"Hey, Kai. Do you have a pen I could borrow?" He smiled, motioning to his desk.

I stood, walking and grabbing a pen.

I scribbled something on the paper, folding it into a paper airplane and tossing it towards Kai, it landed in his lap. He smiled, unfolding the note. He frowned, glaring at me playfully.

"Okay then." He stood, rushing towards me.

I squeaked, rushing away before he could catch me. I laughed, racing to the other side of his tree to a bowl of Hershey Kisses. I grabbed the bowl, circling the tree completely and pelting him with the chocolates.

He ran up to me, grabbing my wrists before I could throw one at him.

We sat there for a few seconds before I attempted unwrapping one of the chocolates in my hand with only that hand. I succeeded and popped it into my mouth, proceeding to throw the wrapper at him.

We both started laughing at the same time. He took the bowl from my hand, setting it on the ground by the tree. He wrapped his arms around my waist, placing a kiss on my lips.

"Come on," He said. "The others are waiting."

He took my hand, pulling me to his bedroom door and handing me my coat. We walked down the large spiral staircase as the both of us pulled on our heavy jackets.

He placed a kiss on my cheek as we exited into the cold snow.

* * *

 ** _•Scarlet•_**

 **"W** olf, are you serious? We had that last night! For the millionth time, I'm not making tomato soup for christmas dinner!"

Wolf pouted, begging with his eyes. "Please Scarlet? This is the last time, I promise!"

"You said that last time." I stated, rolling my eyes at the grown man practically begging like a puppy. Letting out a small sigh, I gave in. "Fine, you win. Go get some tomatoes from the fridge please."

"Yes!" Wolf shouted in victory before rushing to the fridge. I chuckled, heading to get the other ingredients.

We spent a few hours in the kitchen, cooking the tomato soup and staying warm from the stoves heat. My grandmother's house was an old one, and we had to rely on older ways to heat the home.

At last the food for christmas dinner was done, and I kept the stove heated slightly to keep all the food warm.

"Well, we still have about an hour before the others are supposed to arrive. Any ideas on what to do?" I asked Wolf.

"Oh, I was meaning to ask you. Where's your grandmother?"

"Knowing her, she's probably out shopping for last-minute presents."

"Ah," He nodded in understanding.

"Hey, why don't we watch a christmas movie while we wait?" I suggested, heading into the living room.

"What do you have?" He asked, following me.

"Let's see..." I sat next to the television, grabbing a stack of DVDs. "We have _The Polar Express_ , _Charlie Brown Christmas_ , _A Christmas Story_ , _Elf_ , _How The Grinch Stole Christmas_ -"

Wolf's eyes lit up. "Let's watch _The Grinch_!"

I laughed. "I didn't know you liked those old cartoons."

"Of course I like Dr. Seuss books!" He shouted, offended that I would think otherwise.

"Well then, let's watch _The Grinch_!"

I slipped the DVD in, heading back onto the couch and snuggling up next to Wolf, warmed by his body heat. He placed a small kiss on my head as I closed my eyes.

Before I knew it I drifted off to sleep, Ze'ev's gentle breathing like a lullaby.

* * *

 ** _•Cress•_**

 **"O** h, Thorne! That dress is so pretty!"

We where walking along the crowded street, looking at the christmas lights and gift displays while holding hands. The shop we stopped at had a large display of dresses fit for the holiday. All of them where quite fancy, and I wasn't surprised. The Rampion neighborhood was just a few blocks away.

The dress I was looking at was a soft maroon color, a ribbon wrapped around the waist and a bow tied at the chest. I was a floor-length gown, and obviously very expensive.

"What are all these for, anyways?" I asked, looking at several more elaborate dresses.

"Some of the companies throw large christmas balls every year. I'm invited most of the time, but never go."

I nodded, moving on from the display.

Suddenly a giant breeze flew through the streets, and I shivered slightly. Thorne noticed, letting go of my hand and wrapping it around me.

"Why don't we take a break and go get some hot chocolate from Starbucks or something?" He asked.

"Sure," I said, nodding. "That sounds nice."

He led us into the crowded coffee shop and cursed. "Why are there so many people in here? It's Christmas Eve!"

"Hey!" I said, hitting him lightly. "Watch your language, potty-mouth!"

He smirked at me, placing a kiss on my head. "I'll try harder next time, Cress."

We stood in line for what seemed like hours before we sat at a table with our drinks.

"Here," Thorne said, handing me mine. "We have to leave in a few minutes to meet at Scarlet's place."

"Okay. So we're picking her up on the way there, right?" I asked, blowing on the steaming hot chocolate.

"Yeah, do you have a present for her yet?"

I sighed, setting the drink onto the table. "Yeah, but I don't know if she'll like it. She's always loved those fancy christmas gowns, and I saved up allot of money to buy one... I could only afford the cheapest there."

Thorne reached across the table, cupping his hands over mine. "I'm sure she'll love them. She always likes the things you get her."

I checked the time on my phone. "We should get going, she's going to start wondering what's taking us so long."

"Yeah," Thorne stood, walking over to me and kissing my cheek as I stood. "Let's get going."

* * *

 ** _•Winter•_**

 **I** stood, twirling around in the dress that Jacin had just brought me.

"What do you think, Jacin?" I asked, looking at the blonde guard sitting on my bed.

"I don't know, Trouble. It suits you." He suggested, looking unsure.

I pouted, sitting next to him. "You bought it! The least you could do is say it's pretty on me."

"I said it suits you! That's the same thing!"

I turned, wrapping my arms around him. "'It suits you' and 'It looks pretty on you' are two different things entirely!"

He chuckled slightly, "Alright, Trouble. It looks pretty on you — but only a little bit!"

"Okay, now we must leave to go to Scarlet-Friend's house!"

"Come on then, let's get the gifts and go to the car." Jacin stands, removing himself from my grasp.

"Right!" I stood, running to the stairwell and sliding down the railing. I heard Jacin shouting at me to be careful. I just laughed and rushed to the hall closet, trying to take the box of presents out — and failing.

I heard a sigh from behind me, and a set of hands picked the box up from in front of me. I turned to find Jacin, holding the large box in his arms.

I giggled, "Thank you Jacin!" With a jump, I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and planted a kiss on his cheek.

"Careful, Trouble, you don't want me to drop these."

I nodded. "Now let us head to Scarlet-Friend's house!"

* * *

 ** _•Iko•_**

 **I** twirled, laughing at my reflection in the mirror. The long christmas gown Kai bought me the other day glimmered around me.

"Yes! This is going to be the best christmas _ever!_ " I shouted, pumping my fist in the air. A small grin formed on my face as I thought of Kai's **_BIG_** present for Cinder, a frown replaced it almost immediately when I remembered I wasn't allowed to be there when he gave it to her. It was supposed to be "a special moment between the two of them".

I rushed downstairs, heading outside to my car as I was eager to get to Scarlet's house. Suddenly a freezing sensation filled my feet. I had forgotten shoes.

Bouncing on the balls of my feet, I headed back inside, rushing upstairs to get the things I had forgotten. Then I rushed down to the garage to get everyones presents, while bringing the gifts down on a stepladder I slipped, plummeting straight into a pile of boxes.

"Oww..." I moaned, holding my head as I stood. Looking back I saw the thing that caught me.

It was an old life-sized cardboard cut-out of Kai. I giggled, curtsying to it. "Why thank you for saving me, mister."

Suddenly my mom called from the house.

"Iko! You need to get going or you'll be late!"

"Yeah Mom!" I called back, heading to my car with the pile of shiny boxes.

This was going to be so much fun!

* * *

 ** _•Peony•_**

"Are they here yet? Are they here yet? Are they here yet? Are-"

"Shut up Peony! I'm not even paying attention to that!" Pearl scowled from her place on the couch, shoving me away from her as I peered out our apartment's window.

"Fine then, be a party-pooper." I mumbled, sitting on the couch and crossing my arms. When she wasn't looking I stuck my tongue out at her.

"I don't see how you can stand those idiots Cinder hangs out with." Pearl said, and I glared at her.

"Need I remind you that _Kai_ is one of those ' _idiots_ '?"

"Kai's okay, he's just badly influenced by the rest of them." I rolled my eyes.

How where we related?

Suddenly there was a honk from outside. I jumped up, grabbing the bag that held everyones presents and ran to the door.

"Tell mom I'll be home before midnight!" I shouted, slamming the door before she could say otherwise.

I rushed down the stairs, to excited to take the elevator, and rushed into the snow.

For some reason snowy days always gave me a sense of dread, I don't know why. Ever since the first snow on my freshman year, I'v always felt a strange fear, like I was missing something.

"Cress!" I shouted, giving the girl a hug before I climbed into the back seat. "Hi Captain!" I said cheerfully as we started driving.

"Peony, please buckle up. We don't want to have any accidents."

"K!" I said, buckling the seatbelt.

After about fifteen minutes of driving we finally reached Scarlet's house. I saw several cars out front, so we must've been the last ones.

We exited the car, and I quickly skipped to the house, ignoring the cold. I burst right in, not bothering to knock.

"Cinder! Are you here?" I searched around franticly for my step-sister. Ever since she graduated last spring and moved out on her own (translation- Adri and Pearl kicked her out), I'v hardly been able to see her.

"There you are, Peony!" She said as I tacked her with a hug.

"I'v missed you so much, Cinder!" I said, pulling away. "So, how's school?"

"It's fine, I guess. I'm just glad there was a collage I could attend in town."

A small smirk formed on my face, I leaned up to my sister's ear. "So how is Kaider doing?"

She shoved me away playfully. "How do _you_ think it's doing?"

I twirled happily, " _I'm_ personally surprised that you haven't married him yet!"

"Don't be ridiculous, Peony. We're only eighteen." She claimed, but I saw a small blush forming on her cheeks, and a smile playing on her lips.

"Kai's nineteen." I corrected her.

"Right." She said, sighing.

"Oh, where's Iko?" I asked suddenly, looking around the room.

"She's in the living room, with Scarlet, Émilie, and Wolf."

"Kk!" I said, skipping into the room.

"Iko, Émilie!" I shouted when I saw them, hugging the two.

"Peony! It's been so long!" Iko said, spinning me around as we hugged.

"I can't believe I'm finally seeing you again!" Émilie laughed, then leaned to my ear. "You've been keeping Kaider, Cresswell, Wolflet, and Wincin together while I'v been gone, right?"

I giggled, "Yeah, they're pretty much inseparable."

It was so good to see Émilie again, I hadn't seen her since the end of freshman year. She had gone back to France, since she was only spending a year in America. I could tell by her heavy accent that she hadn't spoken English in a while.

"Peony, your finally here!" Scarlet walked up to me, giving me a hug with Wolf shortly following.

"I know! Waiting in the living room with Pearl was torture. I don't even know why she hasn't gone to collage yet. I can't wait to have her off my back!"

Scarlet giggled. "It sounds like she hasn't changed."

"She's been like the Grinch this year, only worse."

"I can imagine."

My eyes drifted to her television, where I saw the selection screen for How The Grinch Stole Christmas.

"Ooohhh! Can we watch it? Can we watch it? Can we watch it?" I asked, jumping up and down.

Scarlet sighed. "Fine, if you want to, Peony."

"Yay!" I shouted, causing Cinder, Cress, Thorne, Winter, and Jacin to come and see what was so wonderful.

"Oh! Scarlet-Friend, I love _The Grinch_!" Winter said, clapping happily. "He reminds me of Jacin!"

"Hey!" Jacin shouted, looking offended.

"Don't worry, you're the good Grinch." Winter claimed, referring to how the character was at the end of the movie.

"Come on then," Thorne said. "Let's watch The Grinch!"

After that everyone cuddled up on the carpeted floor and on the couch, snuggling with blankets and the friends we missed. A few of us went to get hot chocolate and wastle during the opening song, and Scarlet grabbed a candy cane for everyone.

Suddenly I started trying to sing during the opening song. " _Welcome Christmas, haru haru, welcome christmas, haru haru. Christmas day is here again! Something something, la la la..._ "

Everyone laughed at my failed attempt to sing along.

"Hey! Wait until it's The Grinch song, where he's stealing christmas. I know that one!"

We sat there, laughing at talking about The Who's in Who Ville and how much the grinch hated them.

At one point (when the Grinch was making his santa outfit) Thorne and Cinder got into an argument on how it ended.

"He steals christmas! What's the point if he doesn't?" Thorne claimed.

Cinder just laughed. "When was the last time you saw this movie?"

"Umm... fourth or fifth grade?"

Everyone started laughing then, and I heard the music to my favorite song come on.

"Hush everyone! We have to sing along to this!"

Everyone giggled at my childish behavior, but soon we where all singing the song, picking on the people who got the lyrics wrong.

" _You're a mean one, Mister Grinch..._ "

Eventually the movie came to an end, and we all huddled into the dining room for dinner.

We sat there, laughing and eating till we felt we would burst. My phone buzzed.

Sighing, I took the device from my pocket.

 _1 Message From Mom_

I groaned, Cress glanced my way from next to me.

 _You okay?_ She mouthed.

 _Mom._ I mouthed back.

She nodded in understanding.

I opened the message, scared to what I'd find.

 _peony! how could you leave us on xmas eve for cinder and her band of misfits! come home right now!_

I sighed. "Really Mom?" I whispered, quickly typing a reply.

 _Sorry Mom, but we never do anything on Christmas anymore. And I'm having lots of fun here with my friends. I promise I'll be home before midnight!_  
 _Xoxo 3 Love you Mom_

I send the message, hoping that the gooeyness of the message would convince her to let me stay. My phone buzzed again, and I looked down to see yet another message from her.

 **Mom-** _peony! come home right now! you're growing up, i don't want you hanging out with such bad influinces. id rather have you home where i can keep an eye on you and make sure you suceed and have a good influence!_

 **Peony-** _You mean the girl who sits around all day and brings home fifty boys a week, refusing to go to collage is a good influence?_

 **Mom-** _how could you talk about your sister like that?!_

 **Peony-** _It's true!_

 **Mom-** _your grounded_

 **Mom-** _as soon as you get home_

I sighed, placing my phone back in my pocket.

Cinder noticed my sudden bad mood.

"Hey, what's wrong Peony?" She asked, taking my hand from next to me.

"Nothing, Mom's just being Mom."

Cinder nodded in understanding.

"Hey, Peony. You can stay here tonight if you want, I know Iko and Émilie are." Scarlet said from across the table.

"Sure, that sounds great! Thanks, Scarlet!" I reached back into my pocket, bringing out my phone and typing a quick message.

 **Peony-** _Change of plans, I'm spending the night at Scarlet's place._

* * *

We finished dinner and desert about an hour later, heading back into the living room to watch some more christmas movies.

"What do we watch now?" I asked, jumping onto the couch.

"I don't know, maybe Charlie Brown or The Polar Express?" Scarlet suggested.

Cinder stood, taking a movie from the red-head's hands. "Probably _Charlie Brown_ , it's starting to get kind of late and _The Polar Express_ is pretty long."

Scarlet slipped the show into the DVD player, and went back to sit on the couch by Wolf.

Halfway through Cress started crying.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Thorne asked, trying to comfort her.

"They're picking on him just because the poor tree is small, and not a weird metal!" She sobbed.

Several of us laughed warmly.

"Don't worry Cress, there's a happy ending." Thorne pulled her closer.

Eventually the show ended, and the clock read 11:14. Kaider, Cresswell, and Wincin had to leave for the night.

"I'll see you real soon!" I told Cinder, giving her a hug as she pulled on her coat.

"Yeah, maybe you could come to my apartment for New Years or something like that." She said, kissing me on the head.

No matter how much time passed, she was still my older sister. And even though we weren't technically related, she was more of a family than Adri and Pearl ever could be.

•Cinder•

I walked out into the cold snow. Kai followed, slipping his hand into mine as we walked to his car. I could still hear laughter flowing from inside from the others saying goodbye.

I stopped for a second, looking back at the warm house filled with friends that — against all odds — I made. And for some odd reason, I felt a pang of sadness. As if this wasn't the original path fate was supposed to take.

Perhaps it was the snow. After all, it _was_ the first snowfall of the year when Peony first caught it. And it still scares me to think what would've happened if Cress's dad hadn't recently developed the antidote for Letumosis.

But it was alright now. Even if things where meant to take a different path, this was the one we where following now. And in this world things where fine.

"Come on, Cinder." Kai started pulling me along, we went to the car. Kai got into the drivers seat, turning on the heater immediately.

We drove in silence for a few minutes, before Kai broke it. "So how has Garen been doing?"

I smiled at the thought of my stepdad. "He's been fine, he just won an award last week in Australia, and 50,000 in prize money."

He smiled. "That's great! Though I feel a bit bad for Peony being stuck with those two nightmares whenever her dad's away."

"Yeah, she seems to be fighting with them more and more. She told me that Adri's trying to find her a _husband_ now! She's only sixteen!"

"I don't understand how you survived!"

I laughed. "Garan was there most of the time back then, working in our storage unit."

He laughed, and we continued discussing several good memories of throughout our childhood.

Before we knew it we pulled up at Kai's mansion. He exited the car, opening my door before I could.

"Why aren't you a gentleman." I teased.

"Aren't I always?"

We rushed inside, relieved to escape the freezing cold.

"Come on!" He shouted, "I have one last present for you!"

I laughed as he dragged me up the steep spiral staircase as I attempted not to trip on my prosthetic leg.

"Slow down Kai! You're going to kill us!"

He laughed. "We wouldn't want _that_ , now would we?" His voice was filled with a heavy teasing sarcasm, but he slowed down slightly.

"Why are you so excited?" I asked as we reached the top of the tall staircase, breathing heavily as I sat down on the top step.

He turned to face me, a glint of confidence and excitement in his eyes. "You'll see!"

I looked at him skeptically. He seemed to deflate a small bit.

"Why don't I go get us some hot chocolate." He stood, rushing once again down the long spiral staircase to the kitchen.

I rolled my eyes, standing and heading into his room. I removed my coat and boots, plopping down on his bed and gazing at the mistletoe that still hung from his chandelier. A small bit of warmth filled my chest, I smiled. The thought of Kaito trying his best to tie that small piece of a plant to the ceiling light made me want to laugh. Kai was sweet, but sometimes he went a bit overboard.

I sat up, looking at the small mess of Hershey's Kisses that we made earlier. Smiling, I stood, grabbing the tipped-over bowl and starting to clean up the valley of chocolates.

I brought the bowl back to it's original place on the table and looked back to the tree. Kai and I had decorated it earlier that month, with a little help from his dad (Rikan). I laughed at the memory. Apparently Kai and his mom decorated the one downstairs, so he was very terrible at knowing how to spread the ornaments out and make sure that a single side wasn't too heavy. The tree fell over twice when we where decorating it.

I walked to the pair of glass double doors that led to Kaito's small balcony. Opening the doors I felt the cold December wind blowing against my skin. I walked outside, the cold filling my bare feet. We would always come out here in the summer, and grow a small window garden. It was always filled peonies and plants that bloomed only under moonlight. They where all that Garan brought me to plant.

Suddenly a pair of arms wrapped around me from behind. I let out a small scream before Kai turned me around and kissed my forehead.

"At least close the doors, Cinder. You're letting the snow in!" He said, dragging me with him back inside and closing the glass doors behind him.

He studied me for a second, before bursting out laughing.

"What? What's so funny?" I asked, my hands on my hips.

"Cinder, you're covered in snow!" He said, brushing some off my shoulder as evidence. "Can't you stay clean for five seconds?"

"I'm a mechanic." Was my reply.

He laughed at my normal answer to anything revolving around cleanliness.

"Come on Cinder," He took my hand, dragging me to a small table in his room. "I have hot chocolate."

I sat down, wrapping my hands around the warm cup.

"So, are you ready for Christmas tomorrow?" I asked, sipping on the hot drink.

"Yeah, a bit." He smiled, blowing into his cup. "I have lots planned for the two of us."

He smiled a small, sly smile. I looked at him with suspicion.

"Why have you been acting weird today?" I asked, my tone clear.

"What do you mean?" He feigned ignorance.

"I _mean_ the weird way you've been acting today, for the past month!"

"You mean it's been obvious?" He was genuinely surprised, his face filled with shock.

"What do you mean 'It's been obvious?' You're my boyfriend, Kai. I know when somethings up."

He dragged a hand down his face. "Ugh, Peony and Iko told me that I had been acting normal, fine!"

"Aha!" I shouted, leaning in. "You have been hiding something!"

He looked nervous, scratching his head and chuckling. "Maybe... you know... a little?"

"Well, what is it?" I asked, standing and taking his hands.

"Your present, I wasn't sure that you'd like it..." He looked back down into his drink, and I suddenly felt bad for prying on him.

"Oh, that makes sense... I guess."

He looked at the wall's clock quickly, and I followed his gaze. It read 11:59.

Suddenly the hand moved, and I heard church bells ringing down the street for midnight mass. They where ringing to the tune of some christmas song, one that I couldn't remember the name to. It was a pretty and simple melody.

Kai sighed, standing and abandoning his hot chocolate.

"I guess it's now or never." He said, smiling weakly. But there was hope in that smile, I saw it.

"Okay," I stood, following him to the christmas tree. "What's the gift?" I asked.

He took a box from underneath the tree, it looked like a typical christmas present, the red paper gleaming in the christmas tree's lights. It was tied with a white bow, the ribbon wrapping around it.

I took the box from him, surprised that it was slightly heavy. I sat on the floor there, undoing the bow and paper, finding an old box. I ripped off the tape holding it closed, surprised to find packing peanuts.

I smiled jokingly at him. "Thanks, it's just what I'v always wanted! A box of packing peanuts!"

He laughed, "You know there's something else in there!"

I rolled my eyes, but stuck my hands into the box, searching for the item. I felt something hard, and metal. Confused, I pulled the object out, letting out a laugh.

"Seriously Kai? How did you even get this?" I held up the small, metal foot that belonged to an eleven-year-old me.

He laughed, "Iko had it in her garage."

I rolled my eyes. "Of course she did, she finds wonder in every single thing I want to throw out."

He stood, helping me up from where I was sitting on the floor. I heard the metal foot clank on the wood as I dropped it.

"Now for your real present."

I laughed. "What?"

Kaito smiled, grabbing a small box from within the tree's branches. I hadn't noticed it before, if I did I must've mistaken it for another ornament. Now that I was actually studying it, though, I saw that it had much more detail than the other ornaments. The wrapping paper looked hand-painted, and the ribbon possibly cost more than the tree itself.

He held out the box to me, his hands cupped around it as if it where the most fragile thing in the world. I timidly gripped the soft ribbon, pulling it slowly out of its neat bow. The box smelled like pine, possibly from spending the entire month inside the tree. The ribbon fell around the small box, and I started slowly undoing the tape on the paper, not wanting to ruin the priceless design.

I unfolded it, surprised to find yet another layer of paper. Only this one was a normal pure white and silver.

Kai laughed slightly. "I got nervous while wrapping it. And didn't realize I used the wrong paper till afterwards." He explained, I nodded.

For some reason I was slightly afraid of what I would find, and excited at the same time. What could this small box, one that could fit in the palm of my hand. I unwrapped this one more quickly than the other wrapping, not afraid to tear it. There was a small jewelry box, one that you would keep a small necklace in, or earrings.

Suddenly Kai got down on one knee, he was visibly shaking. Oh my stars, was he doing what I think he was doing?

"Cinder, ever since the day I first saw you, I knew you where special. You didn't follow certain stereotypes, most of the time people would pick on you for not acting like 'a girl'. But you didn't let those, bring you down. People would often tease you about your prosthetics, when all I saw was someone who wasn't afraid to get her hands dirty, and be a mechanic. I- um... didn't really prepare a speech or anything... Smart, I know. But, Cinder, I love you. And I want to be with you for the rest of my life. Will you..." He trailed off for a moment, his cheeks red fro, blush. He opened the box. "Will you marry me?"

The ring was silver, small designs of gold trailed around it. There was a small cluster of diamonds in the center, surrounding a large one. It was small, it was simple. It was me.

Kai looked up at me hopefully, I pulled him up and into a hug. Tears of joy streamed down my cheeks.

"Yes." I whispered into his ear. "Yes, Kai. I will marry you."

* * *

There you go guys!

The chapter I spent FOREVER writing. This took my HOURS!

But it was worth it!

I can't believe that I actually finished this on time! I was seriously afraid that I'd end up having to write 4,000 words on Christmas day!

I hope you enjoyed, really, I don't want all that time to be wasted.

And I have a small reminder that there won't be another chapter up tomorrow, sorry but I need a small break after all this writing.

Merry Christmas!

Q- What did you/are you getting for Christmas?

A- I am 1,000% positive that I'm getting a laptop. Is morning I got several emails like "Thank you for choosing Dell!" and "Link to download Adobe flash player" and stuff like that, not very good planning on my parents part😅


	21. 18- Missing

Hey Lunartics!

I'm **_REALLY SUPER EXTREMELY SORRY_** that I skipped updating last week. I was in DC, and things where crazy. But here's the chapter, so please forgive me!

I can honestly see this book reaching it's halfway mark, I was originally planning on having this as one of those seemingly endless books that you find on Wattpad, that's just there for fun, but as I was writing I started seeing this plot sort of forming in my head, one that follows the storyline of the actual series. I'm now planning this book to have around forty-fifty chapters, and as for a sequel... I honestly don't know at this point? Right now I'm just trying to finish this.

 **[Present-day author: This book ended up having only 30 chapters]**

I might end up putting off some of my other books to update this one more frequently, then focus on another one, and so on. I'll still update my other works (I have every intention on finishing them) but it won't be that often.

But for now, enjoy the chapter!

* * *

 ** _•Scarlet•_**

 **I** groaned as I stood, grabbing my back and heading outside the school's theater. Cinder followed, I was taking her home today since she didn't have her own car.

We got in, and I started driving in silence. After about ten minutes we arrived at Cinder's apartments, it had been a grim few weeks. Cress's dad had Letumosis, Thorne went blind, Cinder was kicked out of her house, Peony died. What else could go wrong?

I wish I had never asked.

"See you tomorrow," I told Cinder as she exited the truck.

"Yeah, thanks for the ride, Scar." She said, walking down the sidewalk and waving back at me as I drove away.

I couldn't help notice a strange feeling of dread as I drove, as if I knew something bad was waiting for me at home.

Eventually the farm came into view, it seemed normal enough. The workers where out in the field and the animals where in their pins. I started down the long gravel road, parking my truck in the garage and getting out. I walked in through the kitchen door.

"Grandmére, I'm home!" I yelled, expecting her usual reply.

It was dead silent.

"Grandmére?" I called again, setting my stuff on the table and going through the house to the stairs. "Are you home?" I asked.

When there was still no answer I turned, heading back into the kitchen. I opened the fridge, taking out some milk and bringing in to the table. I set it down, about to go get a cup when something caught on the edge of my vision.

I slowly walked to the opposite side of the table, hoping that my eyes where playing a trick on me.

Sitting there, the same place as when I left this morning, was my grandmother's wallet, cell phone, and keys. The three things she never left without.

* * *

 ** _•Cress•_**

"I know, I still can't believe it's real!" I was walking down the crowded hall, Thorne's hand in mine as I led him to our next class. I ducked my head, it was now common knowledge about Scarlet's grandmother. Scarlet had to have missed at least a week of school after it happened, the poor girl.

"I still can't process that she's gone..." Thorne said, shaking his head.

"Scarlet's very close to her grandmother..." I looked down as we entered the classroom, finding Scarlet sitting in the back.

"Scar!" I shouted, rushing to my friend and giving her a hug. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Scarlet gave a weak grin. "I'm fine, for now."

"Um, hey, a little help Cress?" Thorne called from the front of class, causing a group of girls to giggle.

"C-coming, Captain!" I squeaked, rushing over and helping Thorne to his seat.

Cinder walked in then, giving me a small smile as she walked to me.

"Hey Cress," She said. "I heard what happened with Sybil... and your dad." There was pity in her eyes, she knew how close the two of us where, even though they barley spent any time together. "I just want you to know that you're welcome to join me at my place."

I smiled, "Thanks Cinder, I'll think about it."

* * *

 ** _•That Weekend•_**

" _The search for Michelle Benoit, a respected farmer and teacher at Luna High School, has begun to die dow-_ "

Cinder sighed as she shut off the small TV that was on the floor of her — sorry — _our_ living room. After much thinking I finally said yes to staying with her. To be honest, I don't really think I'd survive being left on my own in that house. Knowing me I's probably trip, spilling water all over the computers and starting a fire that would burn the house down.

"I'm really worried about Scarlet." She said, setting a box of my things down and plopping herself on the couch.

"Me too." I joined Cinder on the couch, holding a small box of computer parts in my lap. "She's hardly spoken all week, and I haven't seen her out in town at all, just to do her deliveries."

Cinder took in a deep breath. "How many boxes are left?" She asked.

"Only three, they're out in the hall." She nodded.

"Okay, let's take these to your room then we'll get those last few."

We where taking pretty much everything we could from the house, and selling the rest. There wasn't much I could do with most of it, though. We took lots of the furniture, including two beds (my dad's for Cinder, and then mine), two desks, a few hallway tables, a vanity, a few dressers for the hall and our rooms, and several other small items. We where giving back the furniture that Cinder borrowed back, and replacing it with stuff my dad and I owned.

We set the boxes in my room, looking out the small window I saw the sun was setting.

"Wow, it's that late already?" Cinder asked, wiping her forehead with her prosthetic hand. "We should get those boxes from the hall, then start on supper."

I smiled, "Sure!"

Running to the hall, I grabbed the largest box. It was the one that held my main computer, which I called Little Cress (it's a long story). The other two where a lot smaller, so I asked Cinder to get them.

Finally all the boxes where in, and the furniture was set up around the house. Cinder and I spent probably another hour unpacking several small keepsakes and decorations and setting them up around the apartment, and tidying up.

"I'll go get started on dinner." Cinder said, leaving the bedroom. "What do you want? We don't have much."

"How about that watercress salad we got the ingredients for today?" I asked jokingly. "I've always wanted to try cress!"

Cinder rolled her eyes. "Don't tell me you're turning into a cannibal!"

I laughed. "I guess I am."

Cinder we to the kitchen, leaving me in the small bedroom to meddle with my unsure thoughts and emotions. I mean, sure, it was really great that I was moving in with Cinder. Seriously, two sixteen-year-old teenagers living on their own? It was like a movie!

But the harsh reality was suffocating me. My dad was dying in the hospital from the same disease he spent the past several years of his life trying to find the cure for, and Thorne was blind because of me. I was like a token of bad luck, my world crumbling beneath me.

I sighed as I straightened the quilt on my bed. It was simple, just a starry night sky surrounding a crescent moon in the corner, but it comforted me. Apparently my mom had made it for me before I was born, and she died. Every now and then, when I was little, I would trace out patterns in the stars, and search for constellations. I found several woven into the fabric. The zodiacs where there, like Aquarius and Leo, as well as others, like Orion the Hunter, and Horologium.

Suddenly my phone buzzed from on the quilt, signaling that I had a message.

I grabbed the device, and my heart sunk as I read the simple text.

My dad was in the final stage of Letumosis.

 _My dad was about to die._


	22. 19- Fine on the Outside

Hey guys!

Here's a new chapter!

I actually had time to write today, weird right? So my friend came over this weekend, and we where watching the first episode of an anime she found called Ghost Hunt, it freaking scared me! After the episode I went to take a shower all freaked out and paranoid while she watched more episodes of it on my laptop. I came back and she stopped watching it 'cause THERE WAS NO WAY I WAS SITTING THROUGH ANOTHER EPISODE OF THAT AT TWELVE A.M! Then she went and asked "Can we turn the lights off?" And I was like "HECK NO!"

So that happened, and she earned the nickname Naru the Narcissist😅

Don't ask, 'cause I honestly don't remember why. It was like 3 a.m and we where half asleep when something happened to give her that name.

Anyway, enjoy the chapter!

* * *

 ** _•Cress•_**

No.

 _No._

 ** _N_** ** _o._**

Why was this happening?

He couldn't be dying, not yet. I hardly ever got to spend time with his as it was, and now he was going to be dead?

Cinder and I immediately started running to the hospital, it was only a few blocks away, and it would take too long to call a taxi. It took about ten minutes in all, running nonstop there and rushing to his room. His door was different this time, on the door it read, in big bold letters, _Special Patient moved to room B214_.

B214? I thought those where just research labs. I headed to the stairs, in too much of a hurry to use the elevator. Cinder was behind me the whole time.

 _Finally_ we reached the room, and I wanted to cry at what I saw. Several doctors where huddled in front of the door, I walked up. They immediately knew who I was, and cleared the way, letting Cinder and I go to the room.

The door shut behind us, and left us in a small research lab with a wall covered in a window. On the other side I saw my dad... At least, I _thought_ it was my dad.

His skin was covered in bruise-like rashes, they where blistering, looking extremely painful. The skin that wasn't infected with the rash was grey from exhaustion, making him look translucent, dead. He opened his eyes, turning his head to look at me. He smiled slightly when he saw me, but it was quickly broken by a cough, leaving small splatters of blood on his white blanket.

"Daddy?" I whispered, tears forming in my eyes.

I quickly rushed to the door to the room he was in, but was stopped quickly by Cinder grabbing my wrist.

"No, Crescent." My dad croaked. "The cancer has mutated, it seems. It's more like a plague now, it's contagious."

I nodded my head, tears streaming down my cheeks.

"Cinder, before I die, there's something I need to tell you... something I'v known for a long while now."

Her eyes widened slightly, then a look of confusion crossed her face. I knew my expression was the same.

"W-what?" She asked.

"It seems, now that Michelle's gone missing, I'm the only one left to tell yo-" He was interrupted by a fit of coughing.

"Dad!" I cried, worry plastered on my face.

"There isn't much time to explain. But, Cinder, you're Princess Selene."

The room was silent for a few seconds.

"What?" Cinder asked, confusion written on both of our faces. "I don't- What?"

"You are Princess Selene."

"Dad, calm down please. Explain."

He sighed weakly, "I know that I don't have much time, so listen carefully. Winter is in the school now, you need to go to her. I know that Levana is planning something, and you are the only one that can stop her."

"I-I just need time to process this." She said, before running from the room, and leaving me with my dad.

"Crescent..." I turned my gaze from the door, looking back to the window.

"Y-yes?" I stuttered, my gaze shifting to the floor.

"I'm sorry for never being there for you, you where abused and I never even knew."

"I-it's okay, really! I-"

"No, it's not. I'm really sorry Cress." He started coughing again, only it didn't die down.

After a few minutes the coughing finally began to cease. and gazed at me with sorry eyes.

It was obvious that he was beginning to grow delirious from the illness, and without warning, he started to sing.

" _Sweet Crescent Moon, up in the sky, you sing your song so sweetly after sunshine passes by..._ "

He coughed. One small, weak cough. And then he was gone.

 _What was I going to do now?_

* * *

We didn't tell anyone at school about Cinder, which filled me with guilt. I respected Cinder's wish and stayed silent about it, though. We weren't even sure if it was true.

People from class asked if I was okay. I smiled and thanked them for their concern, claiming that I was fine. But I wasn't, how could someone lose both their parents and still be fine? At least I still had my friends, and I knew that they where never going to leave me.

It confused me, how could we lose so much in such a short time?

First, Peony. And she was shortly followed by Scarlet's grandmother and my dad. Cinder was kicked out of her home, I couldn't afford to keep the house I grew up in, and Scarlet was left on her own.

And now Cinder was Princess Selene?

My life was just getting weirder and weirder.

The bell _finally_ rang for lunch to start, I had been holding back tears all class. The sub for Science was nice enough, but she still wasn't my dad. The only reason we needed a sub now was because he was dead.

That's funny, usually I kind of dreaded my dad's class. He always picked on me when he asked questions, especially whenever he caught me zoning out. Most of the time I knew them, but sometimes I didn't and he would pick on me playfully.

I hated it.

I never knew that I'd miss it so much.

It was only yesterday that I was in that hospital room, crying as I watched my father die right before my eyes. It felt like an eternity.

I walked out to the abandoned hallway, the one we spent lunch at the last day Peony went to school. Cinder followed shortly behind.

It was raining again, like that day. I was half expecting the lights to go out at any moment.

Cinder stood in front of the glass wall of windows, looking out to the garden of rain.

"What are we going to do now?" I asked, joining her as I watched the downpour.

"I honestly don't know, things have been so strange lately I don't know what to believe anymore." Her eyes where filled with uncertainty, she wore an expression I never thought I'd see her wear.

"Yeah," I smiled weakly. "But we're still her." I turned to her. "We're perfectly fine."

She returned the smile. "On the outside."

"Yeah..." I whispered, turning back to the rain and lacing my hands together behind my back. "We'll always be fine on the outside."

* * *

Sooooo there's the chapter!

Ooooooo, what's gonna happen now that Cinder knows she's Selene? When will she tell everyone else? What will there reaction be?

I really need to stop listening to depressing music while I write.

It's giving me bad ideas.

I really need to give everyone a happy chapter.

Oh well.


	23. 20- New Beginnings

Hey guys!

I'm sooooooooooo sorry I didn't update yesterday ? The chapter wasn't finished ?

It's here now though!

There's a small time skip I'm adding ? So I don't have to deal with the holidays and such V(^_^)V I know, I'm lazy.

* * *

 ** _•Scarlet•_**

 _—Two Months Later, Late January—_

 **I** sighed as I brought the last box of tomatoes into the old bar. Émilie was walking back into the kitchen when I passed, she quickly followed me into the cold-room, waiting till I set the box down before freaking out about something to me.

"Oh, Scar, the handsome street fighter is back!" She sighed dramatically, fanning her face with her hands.

"Oh, stars. Émilie, you're falling for _street fighters_ now?"

She crossed her arms defiantly. "He's different! I have a feeling he's just a little shy, and he's doing what he can to survive!"

I rolled my eyes, "Why do you insist on falling for the worst guys?"

"But Scarling! He has these eyes that just..." She pretended to faint, placing a hand dramatically on her forehead as she leaned against the wall. "And he's been sitting in my section! That means something, don't ya think?"

I threw my hands into the air. "I don't even want to know."

A confused expression crossed her face. "I was telling you about him the other day- Wait, that might have been Sofia..."

"Émilie! Table four wants you!" One of the other waitress called to my cousin.

"Is table four _him_?" I asked in a teasing tone.

She sighed, "No, he's at nine."

She left, leaving me amused in the kitchen.

Suddenly Gilles shoved a plate of food at me. "If you're going to just stand there, at least make yourself useful. Take this to table nine please."

I rolled my eyes, but went to deliver the food anyway.

My eyes widened when I saw who was at the table.

"Wolf?!" I asked, setting the plate down.

"Scarlet? I didn't know you worked here!"

I laughed, sitting across from him. "I don't, Gilles just decided to make me work while I was delivering some food."

"Ah," He said, nodding in understanding.

"It's funny, when Émilie said there was a handsome street fighter, I wasn't expecting you. I keep forgetting you go to those fights."

He smiled, "A lot of people do."

There was a small awkward silence between us, we just sat there for a few minutes not saying a word. Suddenly Wolf broke the silence.

"How's the search for your Grandmother going?"

I groaned, leaning back into my seat. "They're temporarily calling off the search. They _still_ think that she left on her own free will, and wont continue until there's solid evidence of her kidnapping."

"That sucks." Wolf looked down at his now empty plate. I didn't even see him touch his food!

"Well, I have to go now, before Gilles has a fit." I laugh a little bit as I stand, waving goodbye to Wolf as I enter the kitchen.

The last few months had been so insane, I didn't know what to make of them.

Cinder and Cress seemed more distant from the rest of us, and always had a distracted look in their eyes, like they where hiding something. I went through a small phase of depression for a few weeks, before Winter came and pulled me out of my small lonely world. She joined our small group of friends, and I was surprised how easy she was to talk to, considering she _was_ the stepdaughter of the most feared queen in the past thousand years.

I slammed the door to my truck, counting my money and making sure Gilles didn't give me lees than I asked for. Satisfied, I started the truck, heading back to the empty farmhouse.

* * *

 ** _•Cinder•_**

"What about here?" Cress asked, holding up the small newspaper clipping to the bulletin board.

"Maybe right here, with the..." I took a shaky breath. "With the pictures."

Cress nodded in understanding, taking a clothespin and clipping it onto the long string that hung across half of it, having it placed right next to a small girl-shaped pile of ashes.

After lots of convincing, I got Cress to hack into China's royal archives — where all the information on the "deceased" Princess Selene was kept. Just our luck that they had DNA sample, the photo of it was identical to the one we had of mine.

I was a lost princess.

Great.

After much debate, we decided to make a small bulletin board with what we find on her- Sorry, _me_.

It was pretty impressive. We placed a curtain over Crescent's wall, making it seem like a decoration to cover the plain walls. On the actual wall, there was the board. We both knew that if Levana _miraculously_ discovered this, we'd pretty much be dead.

"Come on," I said, standing and pulling the curtain back over the board. "We're going to be late for school."

She nodded, following me out of her room. "Right."

We started the walk to school, which was pretty silent. As soon as we entered the parking lot, Iko attacked us.

"Cinder! Kai wants to talk to you! And Thorne want to talk to Cress! They just asked me where you two where a few minutes ago!"

"What?!" Cress and I shouted in unison, earning a few glares from other students.

"There's no time to go into details! They want to meet you in the history hallway!" She said, pushing us towards to school. "Go!"

We started running, because we knew we would have to risk the wrath of "Matchmaker Iko" if we went any slower than a sprint. We finally made it to the history hallway, breathing heavily.

"She didn't kill us," Cress said between huffs. "We must've run fast enough."

I laughed. "Yeah."

"There you two are!" I heard Thorne shout. An expression of dread and disgust spread over my face. "I forgot he was going to be here too..."

"Cinder!" Kai shouted, running up to me. We hugged quickly, and he placed a kiss on my forehead.

"Hey Kai!" I smiled. "Why did you want to find us?"

He smirked, looking towards Thorne. He seemed to deflate a little. "Thorne has something he wants to ask Cress."

Immediately, Cress's cheeks filled with blush.

"Um... Cress... I was wondering if maybe you'd like to go out sometime?"

Cress smiled a little bit, and I wanted to laugh. Thorne, afraid of asking a girl out? That's a new one!

"Sure, I'd love to!" She said, just as the bell rung to release everyone to first period.

* * *

OH. MY. STARS.

I DIDN'T KILL ANYONE!

IT'S A MIRACLE!

Ikr?

So there's the chapter! Again, I'm sorry it was a day late, I was distracted yesterday and could only get half a chapter done. But it's out now, and I didn't kill anyone, so please don't kill me! *hides*

My birthday is coming up this week, and I'm just sitting here like "Wait, what?"

Seriously though, I still can't believe I'm fourteen. I still feel five.

Literally, a few weeks ago I was getting a new library card at my public library, and she asked my age and I said thirteen, before quickly correcting myself. *facepalm*


	24. 21- Commonwealth Mansion

Hey guys!

Here's the next chapter of Luna High!

I'm sooooooooooooooo sorry for not updating yesterday! I've been thinking of changing the update days to Friday/Saturday. Most of the time I have to write the entire chapter on the day I upload, or usually half on Friday and half on Saturday, because I literally have no time! And it doesn't help that my dad takes away my iPad and computer every. Single. Time. I am not ready for school by 7:30. With him yelling at me every fifteen seconds "Ten minutes left! You're going to be late! Do you _want_ me to take away your electronics? Because I am!" and he keeps yelling things like that till I stop everything and answer with "OKAY!"

(My iPad and computer are where I do all of my writing.)

So yeah, sometimes he makes me so enraged! It's like parents think that if they're your parents, they get special permission to control every single piece of your life and bully you without it being considered "bullying". The other day I went through all periods in school trying really hard to hold back tears because of him!

Yeah, I hope ya'll's week went better.

So that's my little rant.

* * *

 ** _•Iko•_**

 **"O** oooooo! What about this one?!" I shouted, grabbing a long, glittering red party gown.

"Iko, I am _not_ wearing that!" Cress said, leaning back on her bed.

I sighed, placing the dress back in the large box I brought from my house. It was filled with several old dresses that I collected over the years. Several of them where for situations like this — making my OTPs canon!

"Fine, then what about this?" I pulled another gown out, this one was a bright yellow, covered in sequins.

"Definitely... _not_." She said again, not even glancing up.

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, I didn't like that one much either." Throwing the dress down and flopping next to Cress on her bed.

"Cress, one of the cutest, richest, most popular guys in school asked you to the biggest party, like, _ever_ , and you wont even dress up?" I ask in disbelief.

"I'm pretty sure I can figure something out, it's just a high school party."

I face-palmed, was she for real?

I groaned, grabbing her arm and dragging her to the kitchen. Not releasing her, I threw open the curtains, reviling the perfect view of the Commonwealth Mansion.

"There! You see now? That's where it is! So you have to look nice!"

She sighed, "I know, Iko."

I took in a deep breath. "Look, I'll just choose one that isn't too big or flashy. You look nice in blue, so why don't we use one in that color?"

She smiled slightly. "Yeah, that sounds great!"

I laughed, dragging her back to her room, "Oh, do you know when Cinder gets off of work? The party is in just four hours!"

"Does she really need that long to get ready?"

"Knowing Cinder, we'd be spending two hours just scrubbing off the grease."

She went back to digging through the dresses, until her face lit up. "Oh my stars, you'll love this one!"

She quickly spun around holding a light blue dress, and Crescent's eyes shined with happiness. She grabbed the dress and ran to the bathroom to change.

When she finally retuned I could hardly hold back my squeals.

The skirt reached around her knees, and was pleated. There was a ribbon that wrapped around her waist, and tied into a loose bow at the side, falling down the skirt. The sleeves fell to the sides, leaving her shoulders exposed and having the see-through lace fall past her hands.

She was beautiful.

I smiled, sitting on her windowsill. "Just wait till Thorne sees you like that!"

A blush immediately covered her cheeks in a rosy red.

"W-what?"

I laughed, standing and spinning around dramatically. "Isn't it obvious? You fall in love, marry him, become rich and live a happy life with a million children running around your large mansion- AH!"

Suddenly my heels hit the side of the dress's box. I fell backwards, struggling to keep my balance as I crashed into the wall. I grabbed the decorative curtain in an attempt to stop my fall, but only succeeding in tearing down the fabric.

" _Owwww..._ " I moaned, grabbing my head.

A look of pure terror crossed Crescent's face, and she rushed to help me up. I took her hand gratefully, but grew confused when she attempted to hide something on the wall. I smirked grabbing her wrists and the fabric she was trying to cover the wall with.

"What are you hiding? A secret shrine for Captain Carswell... Thorne..."

My eyes widened.

What the hell was I looking at?

* * *

Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, Winter and I stood in front of the large house's doors.

After that incident earlier, I knew everything.

Oh. My. Stars.

Cinder was a freaking lost princess?!

"Well, who's ready?" I asked.

Cress was still wearing the dress that I gave her, thankfully not chickening out, and the others where wearing nice dresses, too. Cinder had on a simple black dress that went to her knees, the design was a complicated lace pattern and the sleeves where spaghetti straps. Scarlet's dress was a glittering red, and ended a bit above her knees. It was tighter than the others, and brought out her curves. Winter's dress was, by far, the nicest and _obviously_ the most expensive. The dress was made of lace and silk, going down to her knees and fitting tightly around her chest, because it was sleeveless. Hundreds of small diamonds dotted the dress's waist band, and glittered like the sun was there, instead of priceless jewels.

Naturally, she wasn't allowed to go anywhere without that guard, so he stood behind her, in his normal uniform.

"Come on!" I said happily, and rung the doorbell.

A few seconds passed, and Thorne opened it.

"Thorne! It's us!" I sang, since is eyesight was still really bad. He could only see slight shadows and figures now.

His face immediately lit up. "You came!" He said, running over to Cress and giving her a hug. "Come on, Kai and the others are in the kitchen, getting some of the food prepared with the chefs."

Cinder laughed. "I didn't know he cooked!"

Thorne smirked. "Yeah, he doesn't. Help me get him out of there before he burns this place down?"

We laughed, following him into the large house.

 _Wow_.

That was the only thing that I could think of to describe the inside, a large chandelier hung from the ceiling of the foyer. The tile floors had a large, fancy carpet spread across them, and the walls where decorated in old paintings and pictures.

"This way!" Thorne sang, taking Crescent's hand and dragging her down one of the hallways. We followed.

Eventually we where led to a large kitchen area, where we found Kai, Wolf, and some other dude.

Kai's eyes lit up when he saw Cinder, and a look of awe followed soon after. He studied her, taking in the absolutely _perfect_ dress I made her wear.

He walked over to her, hugging her and kissing her head in greeting. He smiled.

"Well, why don't ya'll help me get set up for the party before I accidentally destroy something?"

* * *

 _Next time- Selene_

Well, there's the chapter!

Again, please don't kill me for updating late. I'm sorry. I try?

Oh, and I have a Youtube channel now! My name is Keelafairy, so maybe check it out?

 **[Present-day author: It's The Satan of Literature. Don't visit it. Not unless you want to die from the awkwardness and cringe-worthiness.]**

And I'm planning something big for the next chapter! Something that happens in Cinder, but isn't in this book yet!

*insane evil laughs heard in the distance*

Bye guys!


	25. 22- Selene

Hey guys!

Here's the next chapter, this is the point where I really start diving into the main plot. And you guys might hate me for it?

*hides somewhere on Luna*

But yeah, please don't kill me. All I can say is get ready for a feels trip.

Everyone- THIS THING ALREADY _IS_ A FEELS TRIP!

Me- I'm sorry!

So, here's a small rant — no spoilers though.

I finished Attack on Titan on Monday.

I'm still not over it.

Save me.

SERIOUSLY THOUGH, I NEED A SEASON TWO!

The entire thing, from episode one, was a giant feels trip. Seriously though — new characters are introduced, I'm like "Hey, I really like this character!" and they literally die in the next few episodes! The thing seems a little boring till like, episode eight-ish. But I finally see why people love it so much! The character development is just — ugh! And the music is addicting... I'm reading the manga now, and if you haven't seen the show it's on Netflix, and the dub is on (the sub too).

* * *

 ** _•Cinder•_**

 **"Y** ou look lovely."

Kai and I where sitting out on his bedroom's balcony, enjoying the chilled late-January air, and watching how our breath fogged.

"Thanks." I said, fiddling with the lace gloves that went halfway to my elbows.

He studied my hands carefully, in silence. We had been sitting there for a few minutes before he spoke again.

"Why do you always wear gloves?"

I immediately grew red, searching for a way to avoid the question.

"N-no reason!" I said, intertwining my fingers. "I'm just more comfortable with them on. A sense of security, you know."

He smiled back at me, planting a small kiss on my forehead. "Come on, let's go join the others."

He took my hand, dragging me down through a series of halls and down the stairs into a small ballroom. I swear, the entire school had to be there!

"You didn't tell me so many people would be here!" I said, playfully hitting his shoulder.

He sighed. "Thorne invited most of them, and news spread, so people invited themselves."

"I guess this party is kind of a big event." I joked.

"Well, it is the first one we're having here." He said, a shocked expression crossed my face.

"Seriously? Mr. Popular has never had a high school party at his house?"

"Stop picking on me!"

"Yeah, not gonna happen."

We laughed, before Kai had to leave to welcome some of the other guests. I turned away, heading to the small table Iko and Émilie where sitting.

"Where are the others?" I asked as I sat down.

The two glanced at each other mischievously, and Iko shrugged nonchalantly. "Thorne is showing Cress around, Scarlet is hanging out with the street fighter, and Winter dragged the guard off to dance."

"I see." I said, smirking. "Iko, it amazes me how much you involve yourself with our love lives, yet we aren't allowed to get involved in yours."

"Pft, please. I've never stopped you."

Émilie glanced at her partner in crime. "Iko, why don't you tell Cinder about that guard? What was his name? Kenn-"

Iko suddenly threw herself across the table, placing both hands over Émilie's mouth, preventing her from finishing.

"Oooooo! Does Iko finally have a boyfriend?" I teased, and Iko's cheeks turned as red as Scarlet's hair.

"No way! That guy is a complete and utter idiot! I hate his guts!" Iko shouted.

I chuckled lightly. "Lower your voice Iko, you're attracting attention!"

She rolled her eyes, looking past me. Suddenly her eyes widened, a look of shock — then pure rage — crossed her face.

"No way." She muttered.

"Look who's here." She rasped, then proceeded to call her something very unpleasant. (Hint- it starts with a B.)

I hesitated, then slowly followed her gaze. My eyes widened with hatred. Standing by a very awkward and annoyed Kai, was the devil herself.

 _Pearl._

She was giggling, obviously flirting with the poor boy. She grabbed his hand as a new song came on, and started to dance with him.

Clenching my fists, I began to stand. Unfortunately I felt a gentle hand grabbing my wrist, I looked back. Iko was holding me back, the look of rage still strong on her pretty face.

"Iko," I said through gritted teeth. "Let me go."

"I-I'm sorry Cinder, but I can't." She whispered. "You know Pearl, that backstabbing demon. She would find something to hold against you."

I groaned, admitting defeat, and slumped back into my seat. I mumbled several disrespectful things about Satan under my breath while watching her through glaring eyes. She was laughing and talking to Kai, suddenly she glanced in my direction. My eyes widened as she started whispering something in his ear. A smirk was plastered against her face.

Suddenly a sad expression crossed Kai's face, and he replied to her.

I shut my eyes, probably knowing how the conversation was going.

I'm so sorry for you having to deal with my idiot cyborg ex-sister. Oh? You didn't know about her stupid prosthetics! Yeah, she's an idiot, you shouldn't trust her!

Suddenly I felt a warm hand on my shoulder. I looked up to find Kai standing there, smiling. Turning my head I saw a very pissed off demon staring at me.

"Come on, Cinder. Let's dance." He pulled me up, bringing me to the dance floor as a slow song came on.

"I don't think this is a good idea, I'll probably end up killing the both of us."

He smiled. "Don't worry, I'v danced with people who literally have two left feet before."

A small smile formed on my face, and I followed his lead as the dance started.

"I bet you're wandering why Pearl was talking to me." He said suddenly.

"Actually, yeah... kinda..."

He sighed. "I figured." He looked saddened, and a bit pissed off. "She started talking about how Peony's death was your fault, and apologizing that I had to deal with you every day."

Of course. "Oh..."

"She's an idiot, I can't believe that you lived with her for all those years."

"It wasn't so bad with Peony around." I said sadly.

"She seemed like a lovely girl, from what I saw of her in the halls."

I smiled, "Yeah, she was amazing."

We danced in silence for a few minutes, until the song ended suddenly.

"That was nice." Kai said, grinning.

"Yeah..." I replied, simply.

His phone started to buzz from his pocket. He pulled out his phone, and cursed. "Sorry Cinder, my dad just texted saying an important business partner just arrived. I have to go meet her. I'll be back in a minute."

"That's fine, Kai. I'll see you in a bit."

He smiled, planting a small kiss on my lips. "Thanks, Cinder. See you later!" he said, running off.

Suddenly a hand grabbed my wrist, dragging me to the edge of the dance floor. I turned to find Winter there, a worried expression on her face.

"What's wrong, Winter?"

"My Selene, you have to get out of here. Now!"

"Wha-?" She dragged me into the hall, running towards the garden. "How do you know who I really am?"

She turned to face me as we reached the garden's steps.

"I've known since I first saw you. I could never forget you, you where my only friend for the longest time." she exclaimed sadly. "Until you became the pile of girl-shaped ashes."

"Okay, you're insane. I get that. But why are you telling me to leave?"

A grim fear filled her eyes.

"Step-mother is here." She explained, "She wants you dead, and she will kill you without hesitation."

"But how-" Realization hit me, she was the business partner. The Commonwealth companies did a lot of trade with Asia, and it's biggest trade partner was China. How could I be so stupid.

"I already explained everything to Scarlet-Friend and the others. Scarlet-Friend is waiting outside the garden in her truck. You must meet her, quickly! Levana already knows you're here somehow, and knows who you are. You have to run!"

Suddenly we heard voices in the hall, and my body went still. One of the voices was warm and comforting, but the other as warm and comforting as ice.

"What is out this way." The cold voice asked.

"That's the garden, we might not want to go out there. It's a bit rainy."

"That's fine." the girl (obviously Levana) shot back.

I started to run down the stairs, not paying attention to the water polling on the steps. I hadn't realized how much the rain had picked up. It was no longer a small drizzle.

I felt a click in my ankle, I mentally cursed.

Not now.

 _Not now._

 _ **Not now.**_

I let out a small scream as I fell. And I saw Kai run through the door as I fell. Time seemed to stand still in that moment as he took in the sight of my foot flying off, the tights I was wearing ripped and revealed the metal leg. I braced myself for the impact, knowing that it would be quite painful from this height alone, not to mention the path's gravel. Suddenly another figure appeared in the doorway. A cruel expression on her veiled face. My eyes widened.

I hit the ground, the pain racing through my body. I felt warm liquid run down my face, I must've cut my forehead. I knew my arms and legs must've been extremely cut up, parts possibly shredded from the small rocks.

That pain was nothing compared to what I felt when I saw Kai, a look of disgust on his face as he bent down to pick up the metal foot. Disgust and... betrayal?

The last thing I heard was Levana, "She's a wanted criminal, we have to take her back to stand trial. You see, this was the reason I came."

I felt dry tears trail down my face as my consciousness faded away.


	26. 23- The Plan

_**•Cinder•**_

I woke with a start, immediately conscious of the cold and damp feeling around me.

I moaned, slowly opening my eyes and sitting up. The room was dark, and it took me a while to take in my surroundings and let my eyes adjust. I was in a dimly lit prison cell, and the memories came flooding back to me.

Of course I was in a cell, the Commonwealth Mansion was a renovated old castle.

Pain suddenly filled my limbs. I yelped, clutching my stinging arms. They where covered in bandages, some of them where already dotted with the blood that was seeping through. My head was the worst, when I lightly pressed on the damp bandage my hand came away covered in a thin coat of blood. My foot was gone — of course — so all I could do was tremble on the cold stone pathetically.

Levana knew, possibly all along, and now I was going to die.

The thought seemed so unreal.

I curled up in the corner of the small cell, the pain fading as I — once again — lost consciousness.

 _ **•Cress•**_

The mood in the small garage was dim, the only noise was the clicking of tools as Thorne worked on his old car.

The revelation had come as a shock to everyone. Especially Kai, who — as soon as he discovered that Cinder was a "cyborg freak" and "criminal" — locked himself in his room, not opening the door for anyone. The party had ended abruptly, everyone being pushed out of the mansion without an explanation.

"Argh!" Thorne cursed as he threw down the wrench that he was using to tighten something in the engine. "What did Cinder do that's so bad that she needs to die because of it?"

I looked down, suddenly very interested in the hem of my dress. "It's because she exists, that's her crime."

Thorne laughed humorlessly, "Yeah, 'cause that's such a huge crime."

"Thorne," I sighed. "Do you grasp the seriousness of this situation? Cinder is going to die because she's Selene. The lost princess that supposedly 'died' in an 'accidental' nursery fire around thirteen years ago."

We sat there for a minute, just standing around in silence, before I couldn't hold back the tears any more. Thorne stood from his spot on the car and came over to me, wrapping me in his arms.

"Why does she have to die? She didn't do anything! I can't loose anyone else, it was already hard enough with Peony!"

"We'll save her, then." Thorne stated simply, my eyes widened and I looked up at him. "You heard me, I'll talk to Kai, he has tis private jet that I sorta-maybe-kinda-actually taught myself how to drive. We can sneak into the dungeon area and get her out of the cell, then smuggle her onto the plane."

I managed to smile. "What then?"

"I don't know, start a revolution or something? That's for Cinder to decide, she is the all-high-and-mighty lost princess."

I smiled at that, taking in his encouraging words.

He pulled away slightly, placing a small kiss on my forehead before taking my hand. "Come on! Let's go save her-royal-highness!"

 _ **•Iko•**_

"Are you sure Thorne knows what he's doing?"

We where sitting outside the Commonwealth Mansion, hiding behind a couple of bushes in the gardens.

"I trust him." Was Crescent's only reply.

"Are you sure? We've been sitting here for over half an hour and-"

"IKO!"

"Just saying!"

It was true. Thorne had entered almost fifty minutes ago, and there was still no sign of anyone.

Suddenly the garden doors opened, and we ducked farther behind the plants.

We heard a sigh. "Cress, Iko, I know you're there, come out."

Cress sighed, standing.

"Hey," I whisper yelled, "Now he knows for certain!"

"He already knew we where there, Iko."

"He might've not!"

Kai rolled his eyes, walking over to us.

"So I agreed to help."

"YES!" I jumped up, shouting loudly as I pumped my fist in the air. Cress and Kai stared at me for a long moment, before I realized my mistake. "Oh, oops... Sorry." They gave me a look that said 'Sure you are'. "What? Continue!"

Kai — once again — rolled his eyes as Cress sighed.

"Thorne explained a few things, as best as he could with his small brain."

"And? Where is he now?" Cress asked worriedly.

That was when Kai's face fell. He looked down, partly opening his mouth a few times, as if he where searching for a way to tell us what happened.

"He... After he explained things he could, we where about to leave for my private jet, but Levana came in. Thorne said a few things that pissed her off, so now he's supposed to be stuck in the dungeon till she leaves."

I face-palmed. "Of course he did."

"Um, is what he said true? About Cinder being, well, you-know-who?"

Cress pursed her lips, "Yeah, she is."

"How could I have been so stupid?" He mumbled to himself, placing his head in his hands as he sat at a garden bench.

Suddenly there was a bunch of shouting from one side of the mansion, and all of our heads shot up.

"What's going on?" Cress asked the question that was on everyone's mind.

Suddenly three figures shot around the building's corner, rushing at an alarming speed.

"Kai, Cress, Iko, if you want to live get in the car now!" We heard a certain redhead say from behind us, in her car on the road by the garden, we hadn't even heard her pull up!

"Scarlet?!" I heard Cress ask.

"Oh, yeah. I texted her to come meet us around this time. Did I forget to tell you?" I asked, grabbing her arm and dragging me to the old truck.

"Yeah!"

We climbed into the vehicle, a few seconds later Thorne and Cinder hopping into the back with me and Cress. It was really crowded.

Immediately Scarlet zoomed off, going at least fifty over the speed limit. Looking out the back window I saw several of Levana's guards chasing us, and couldn't help but laugh.

Somehow, we did it, even if it was by Thorne's weirdly charming way of thinking, we had saved Cinder.

* * *

Hey guys PLEASE DON'T KILL ME IT'S STILL TECHNICALLY MARCH I NEVER BROKE THE PROMISE THAT THE SMALL BREAK WOULD BE OVER IN MARCH SO PLEASE I REALLY WANT TO LIVE ANOTHER DAY!

I'm really sorry about not updating earlier. I was going to, but it was my younger brother's birthday one weekend and then I had lifeguard training which btw is a NIGHTMARE, and then last weekend was Easter, so... **[Present-day author: Spoiler alert- the updating didn't get better]**

I know, this chapter was terrible compared to others, and I'm REALLY sorry. I haven't written anything in this book for like a month, and I'm sorry that it's terrible. The next chapter will be better though, I promise. It shows how Thorne and Cinder escape ;)


	27. 24- The Escape

_This chapter is dedicated to SilverEmpressTLC_ (on wattpad)  
 _RIP_

* * *

 _ **-Thorne-**_

 _ **P**_ _lease open please open please open..._

The door stayed frustratingly shut.

I mean, not that I blamed him... I just... I hadn't knocked yet...

Taking deep breath, I prepared to meet the monster. (Well, technically Cinder was worse, but let's forget that small little detail.)

 _Bang, bang, bang!_

Silence followed, till I heard a sigh before a certain someone yelled from inside his-royal-highness's bedroom. Is it even called that in a house like that? Okay then, his-royal-highness's _chambers_. See? I know my English, no matter what Cinder may say.

"Who's there?" I heard a muffled voice come from within.

"It's Captain Carswell Thorne, at your service!"

There was silence, before one of the French-doors swung open to reveal a very annoyed looking Kai Prince.

"What do you want, Thorne?" he asked, dragging me inside his _chambers_ and slamming the door.

"What? Am I not allowed to visit my best bro suddenly?" I asked, adding in the "bro" part to make it seem more natural.

"What do you want, you never speak that way unless you want something."

"Umm..." _Dang it, he caught me!_

"It has to do with Cinder, doesn't it?"

 _Is he reading my mind?!_

"It is, isn't it."

 _You are!_

"I'm not reading your mind, Thorne, stop making that face.

"I'm 99.9% sure you read minds now."

He groaned, but sat down on his sofa. "What is it?"

"Cinder isn't guilty of anything-"

He stood abruptly lashing out. "Don't you think I know that? But it's _Levana_ , defying her is pretty much sentencing yourself to execution."

"Seriously? You didn't even let me finish!"

Kai plopped back onto the luxurious cushions, and I couldn't help sitting too.

"Continue."

I took a deep breath. "Cinder's crime is existing."

Kai glared at me. "Gee, I know she has those fancy prosthetics, but you don't have be so rude."

"It's not that, Kai." I said, taking another breath to prepare myself. "Cinder is Selene."

He stared at me, a blank look on his face. "I'm sorry, what?"

I assumed he must've misheard me, "Cinder, she's Selene."

"Oh god, Levana knows, that's why she wanted her so badly."

I toned out most of his rambling, blaming the whole situation on himself.

"Wait, Thorne, I need a favor!"

"Yeah?"

Kai quickly rushed to his closet, returning a short moment later with his school bags. He unzipped the main pocket, bringing out a plastic bag.

"It's part of the mechanics class I've been taking this year. We where supposed to get a piece of modern technology and find a way to improve on it."

I nodded in understanding, "You just happened to get a foot."

"Technically I have a hand in there too, it's the only one I started work on... well... the teacher did most of it..."

"Stop worrying, you're talking to a criminal mastermind here! I'll break Cinder out of the stupid prison in style!"

"I'm scared to find out what you mean by 'in style'."

I winked, heading toward the door with the bag, "You'll see."

I swung open the door to Kai's room, and stopped dead in my tracks.

Standing right there was Levana.

* * *

 _ **•Cinder•**_

"Hey, watch it, do you realize how long it took to style my hair?"

I slightly cracked my eyes open from my position on the floor, that voice... it couldn't be...

I heard the cell next to me open and close, followed by an "mph" and several strings of complaints.

Only Thorne would complain about someone messing up his hair while being thrown into a cell.

He suddenly went silent, before I heard a shocked whisper, "...Cinder? What did they do to you."

I sighed, ignoring the pain as I sat up. "What did you do this time?"

"It's a funny story, actually-"

I groaned, this had to be good.

"I was about to sneak down here to get you, when Levana decided to show up."

"And what did you do to piss her off?"

"I tried walking past her without bowing."

I facepalmed.

"Then I sorta made a few sarcastic comments... I called her a fake snobby tyrant princess."

I facepalmed again. "Do you ever _think_ before you act?"

"It was a joke," he replied blankly.

"How are you still alive?"

"It's a gift. Anyways, we should try thinking of ways to get out of here." Thorne began shuffling around the bars of his cell, searching for any loose beams. Suddenly he squealed, a grossed-out, girly squeal. "When was the last time they cleaned these things? My hands are covered in rust!"

"There should be a faucet in the corner."

He shuffled to the corner of his cell, turning on the water and rinsing his hands.

"What's with this soap?

"It's cheep."

He stared at me in shock. "Well then, we might just have to start a soap revolution."

"And why would we need to do that?"

"I have sensitive skin, I can't live in these conditions!"

"Relax, you're only in here 'till she decides to pack up and leave back to China." I stated, the thought rushing across my mind that as soon as she leaves, I'll most likely be dead when we arrive.

"You aren't going to China, Cinder. We're going to get you out of here."

I glared at him, "How, Thorne? I'm covered in bruises and cuts, missing a foot, can't move half of my fake hand, and even if I had a foot I'd probably collapse the minute I stood." I looked down at the grimy floor, "I'm as good as dead.

Thorne suddenly perked up, "Cinder, I almost forgot, I have presents!" he said, holding up the bag that he was thrown in with.

"Presents?" I asked in disbelief, "Why on Earth would I need presents at a time like this?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe these?" He rummaged through the bag, pulling out a brand new prosthetic foot and hand. "Made by his-royal-princlyness himself!"

A smirk was playing on my lips now, "Alright, _Cadet_ , what's the plan?"

* * *

Hey guys, I'm really sorry this chapter is late. My life has just been really insane lately with hell- I mean school.

Anyways, I just discovered some pretty awful news today. One of my internet friends, and a reader of this book, apparently died recently in a car crash. SilverEmpressTLC (or lunartic._.galaxy on IG) RIP.

 **[Present day author: So a lot has happened since I wrote this chapter a few years ago, and I discovered that she actually committed suicide. If anyone is going through anything like that, please seek help. It's never fun to wake up one day only to discover that one of your friends is dead.]**


	28. 25- The Soap Revolution

**[Present-day author: Please note that this entire story has already been published on Wattpad, I have tried publishing parts on here, but I am still new to the format and often the files become corrupted or change due to the layout of this website. If you notice something wrong with a chapter please let me know.]  
**

 ** _Cinder_**

 ** _W_** _hy?_

That was the only question on my mind as Thorne explained.

"You're going to start a soap revolution?" I asked, trying confirm what I'd just heard.

"Yep, you are correct!"

" _A soap revolution_."

He looked at me with an unrealistically optimistic expression. I sighed, " _Go on_."

"So what if I decided to issue an official complaint about the soap, then used my super awesome ninja skills to attack the guards, and steal the keys!"

" _Ninja skills?_ What ninja skills?" I held back a laugh of disbelief.

"Stop doubting my skills! I've had reliable training and guidance!" he said in a matter-of-fact tone.

I couldn't help but let out a small burst of giggles, "What guidance? _Naruto?_ Don't tell me your training included searching Wiki How articles on 'how to run like a shinobi ninja dude' and acting like an idiot in your backyard?"

Thorne huffed, "It's not stupid... and the article was title 'how to run like Naruto', for your information! _Thank you very much_ for getting your facts straight."

"Back to your _genius_ plan?" I asked.

"Right!" he said, smirking, before opening his mouth and letting out the most annoying, high-pitched wail of grief.

I quickly stuck my hands through the bars to cover his mouth, wincing as some of my bandages ripped open against the rusted metal, "What the hell do you think you're doing?" I asked quietly and harshly.

"Starting a soap revolution, what else?" he stated simply before going back to the pathetic wailing. "My skin! Oh, my precious, flawless skin!" he threw an arm dramatically over his forehead.

"You are an idiot," I stated simply, and he just winked in response.

I sighed, grabbing the bag of prosthetics and continuing to attach them to my arm and leg.

Meanwhile Thorne continued his endless whining.

"My skin has been sinned upon, by none other than this pathetic soap! I will not stand for this! I must speak to the ruler at once!"

"Is the stupid British accent really necessary?" I asked in a bored tone.

"Hush! I'm getting into the mood!"

I rolled my eyes as the dungeon's door opened, and one of the guards posted outside came in, crouching down to face Thorne's cell while I discretely sneaked to the closest corner to him. I saw the keys hanging from his belt, like in all those stereotype movies that include the main protagonist breaking out of prison.

"Stop your whining, would ya? You were the one stupid enough to get sent here in the first place, so stop trying to give us headaches."

My hand slithered through the bars, griping the keys as I discovered yet another problem. The key ring was buttoned onto the guard's belt. Great, there would be force required to take them.

Thorne must've seen my problem, and acted stupidly fast, jumping up and throwing the bar of soap at the guards face, causing the man to jump back, falling to the cold and damp stone ground. The keys clipped off of his belt, and I quickly fell back into the corner, stuffing the keys into the pile of rags and hay that was apparently supposed to pass for a bed.

The guard let out a string of curses, calling Thorne some very unpleasant things before marching out and slamming the old wooden door while wiping chunks of wet soap out of his eyes.

"Well that's what you get for giving us terrible hundred-year-old soap!" Thorne called, before turning to smirk at me.

Once again, I repeated the simple line that summed up Thorne's entire existence, "You are an idiot."

He continued to smirk, "But I'm also a genius."

I rolled my eyes before reaching through the bars to punch him lightly in the arm, "Sorry, but you're more of an idiot than you'll ever be genius."

He looked at me blankly before shrugging, "Fair enough."

I stood unsteadily, grabbing the cells' keys from the "bed" before attempting to walk across my cell and unlock it. It was painful, but I managed to get to the cell's door, fumbling with the keys 'till I found the correct one. The click of the lock echoed through the small dungeon, before I timidly tried opening the door. A large _creeeeaaaak_ sounded through the area, making me wince, but no guards came running. I let out a sigh of relief before limping over to let Thorne out.

"Cinder, I love you, you know that right?" he said, holding out his arms in an attempt to embrace me.

I placed a finger on his nose, pushing him away, "Not today, _Cadet_ , I don't need you turning into Chat Noir on me."

He pouted, "Seriously, Cinder? Don't compare me to _a cartoon_."

"Shut up, I know you're addicted to it."

Thorne and I then proceeded to quietly creep up the steps to the old door. I crouched slightly, wincing from my injuries as I peered through a hole in the rotting wood. There was no one in sight.

"Wait here," I muttered, creeping down the steps into my cell, taking a huge load of hay an tossing it into the corner of Thorne's, before placing a blanket over it, making it seem like the blockhead was simply asleep before doing the same in my cell.

I closed the cell doors, locking them before limping back up the stairs to join Thorne.

"Ready?" I asked.

He nodded in response.

We slowly opened the door, entering the hallway and closing the wood behind us.

It was quiet for a few minutes, as we wandered through the empty halls, when suddenly everything went wrong.

"Hey! It's them!"

We took that as out cue to run, and we did.

Suddenly Thorne cried out, tripping over... soap(?) as we turned the corner, I winced as I heard his head hit the marble tiles. Unfortunately there was no time to mourn his head or check for injuries. I pulled him up, racing to reach the nearest exit.

We burst outside, rushing through the castles garden as we made our way to the main garden area. A smile formed on my lips as I saw our friends waiting for us.

Before we knew it we were in Scarlet's truck, racing at alarming speeds away from the mansion.

I let out a small laugh as we zoomed off.

I was alive.

I was alive.

I turned to face Thorne, about to freak out about that small fact, when a gasp escaped my mouth instead. The side of Thorne's head was covered in drying blood.

"Cinder, I think we have a problem," I nodded in understanding as I reached under the back seat to get a first aid kit that Scarlet kept there, "I cannot see."

My eyes widened slightly, he had just recovered from that head injury he received from being hit by a car, he couldn't be...

I never got the chance to finish the thought. Before I could even process what was happening, nausea filled my senses, and everything went black.

* * *

Hey guys!

*dodges a million bullets, trash, stuffed animals, pillows, and various furniture items*

I AM SO SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING IN FOREVER!

I know, I'm terrible, I should go die.

Most people think "Yay! Summer! More writing time!" but that's not he case for me, my mom signed me up for a job, and I swear I come close to dying every time I go. I hate that stupid job. The job should go die in a hole.

Aaaaaaaaaaanyways, everyone should go thank theyarenotfictional (wattpad) because it was her spam of votes and comments that inspired me to stop being lazy and actually write the next chapter V^_^V

Also, has anyone else seen Naruto?

I AM ADDICTED.

Especially because of my smol child Hinata💗

I DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHY SHE GETS SO MUCH HATE. IF YOU HATE ON MY CHILD I WILL NOT HESITATE TO KILL YOU.

Same thing with Sakura, WHY DOES SHE GET SO MUCH HATE?! IS IT BECAUSE HER CHARACTER IS ACTUALLY REALISTIC AND NOT 1000000000% PERFECT?!

Sry about the small little Naruto rant💗

I hope you enjoyed the chapter!


	29. 26- The Private Jet

**[Warning- I had really bad writer's block for pretty much the rest of this book. Please be prepared for cringe.]  
**

 ** _Cinder_**

 **I** hated gas stations.

It was official.

Without asking for my opinion we stopped there, after Scarlet texted Wolf _and_ Winter to meet up with us at the grimy place.

Now the old truck stunk of gasoline, medical ointment, body odor that I was very positive came from Wolf, and the strange aroma of rotting tomatoes.

To make matters even worse — Winter's clingy guard decided to come along. You can only imagine the panic and arguing that brought.

And we'd been driving like that for hours.

The sun was now far past set, and darkness engulfed us. That was when the car screeched to a halt, causing me to jerk forward, banging my head on the back of the front seat.

"Ow!" I complained, "Wha-"

Kai silenced me, "We're here," he whispered, as we all tumbled out of the car.

It wasn't large, and definitely not glamorous, buying front of us was a small landing pad, almost like a parking lot for planes.

Kai quickly led the way through the maze of sky-crafts, "This is the Rampion Private Launch Pad," he explained, "it holds all of the air vehicles we may own."

 _Stupid rich people,_ was all I could think of.

"Thorne?" Kai called, and Thorne nodded blindly, shuffling around in his pockets 'till he produced a single key. He pressed the button on the small remote and the jet in front of them lit up, a ramp extending downwards to let us on.

"I CALL GETTING ON HER FIRST!" Thorne shouted as soon as he heard the ramp hit the ground, rushing forward from Cress's side only only succeeding in tripping forward onto his face, his bandaged head hitting the metal, " _Owwwwww,_ " I heard him moan in pain.

"Captain!" Cress squealed, rushing to his side and helping him up, and I could've sworn that I caught a glimpse of red on his cheeks.

Was he... _blushing?_

I held back a knowing laugh; Thorne was a playboy, but he was such an awkward mess around people he actually liked.

Without saying anything else we started walking up the ramp into the jet, Kai pressing a button by the entrance as soon as we were all in that proceeded to close the ramp.

"Jacin, you know how to fly this, right?" Kai then asked.

"N-" Jacin started, before Winter promptly interrupted him.

"Yes, Jacin does! He worked as Levana's personal pilot before becoming my guard!" she said with a certain cheeriness that even Jacin couldn't stay mad at.

He simply glared at him as I sighed, "Start driving then."

Jacin groaned, but followed Kai to the front.

"We're going to be stopping at England, to switch onto a different jet with someone else to fly is from there to Beijing."

Well, it looked like that was the plan.

I crossed the small area and sat at the small table, taking the seatbelt on the seat and buckling it, looking out the window as Winter slid into the seat beside me, followed by Iko.

"So it's finally happening, huh?" I asked her, not removing my eyes from the window as I heard Wolf, Scarlet, Cress, and Thorne sliding in across from us at the round table.

I felt the aircraft start moving, and the others quickly fastened their seat belts (Cress was so red when she had to help Thorne with his), before we knew it we were racing through the sky.

"So..." Thorne began, "what exactly are we going to do once we get there?"

Winter smiled, her optimistic attitude brightening the entire room.

"They know me as royalty, so as long as Levana isn't there I'm technically supposed to be the one to fill in for her. We'll go to the medical unit, give Cinder a blood test to prove that she's Selene, and announce it to everyone before placing Cinder onto the throne!"

Scarlet rolled her eyes, "It's not going to be that easy."

"It's _never_ going to be that easy!" I shouted in a sudden outburst before banging my head into the table, letting out a muffled scream.

Cress set a timid hand on my head, as if to reassure me, "Hey, there's really no way to tell what'll happen once we get there, let's try not to stress too much about it for now. There's still a really long ride 'tiller get there."

I sighed, lifting my head up, "True..." I racked my mind for something to change the subject to, before a smirk grew onto my face. "Hey, Thorne, you still haven't told them how we escaped, have you?"

His body went ridged, before he almost instantly went into full-out bad acting mode.

"It was amazing, I did most of the work of course, and- OW! What do ya know, my head it really hurting right now, I'm going to the back where the beds are to try and get some sleep, I don't want to strain this injury, ya know?" Thorne frantically fumbled with his seatbelt, trying his best to undo the latch without his sight.

I smirked, "He started soap revolution."

The whole table burst into laughter, "How is that even possible?" Scarlet asked.

"Boys are weird like that, they don't have womanly charms and beauty like us," Iko explained, dramatically flipping a lock of blue and purple braids over her shoulder.

"I'm willing to bet that Thorne has _'womanly charms'_ hidden somewhere in that air-filled head of his." I said, laughing along with the rest of them.

"I'm leaving this conversation!" Thorne exclaimed loudly, finally removing his seatbelt as he stumbled down to one of the bunk beds in the back.

It was then that Kai decided to join us, Iko dragged Winter and I out of our seats so Kai could climb into the booth and be on the other side of me so I could, quote, "have him to myself".

I went on to explain exactly _how_ the soap revolution worked, being sure to include all the details on how he screeched and sobbed about the soap quality, and I most certainly _did not_ forget the part about the terrible British accent.

Suddenly Iko's phone dinged, and she quickly pulled it out to check.

" _EEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKK!_ " she squealed, turning the device around to face me. Instagram was open, and the bright colors blinded me.

"Iko, I told you, I don't have Instagram anymore, they're ruining it with all the new updates."

"That's not the point! Look, we're practically celebrities, I've gained a total of fifty _thousand_ followers since the whole incident at the dance with Levana!"

"Iko, how do you even have service? We're literally flying thousands of feet universe the sea-level _in the middle of the ocean_." I asked, eyeing her suspiciously.

"Oh, you know," she shrugged nonchalantly, "a girl has her ways, I know people."

"Sure."

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked, and we all burst into laughter.

We talked like that for another hour or two, goofing off and having fun late into the night, before several of us decided to turn in and sleep for the remaining few hours of the flight.

We were blissfully unaware of how serious our situation really was.

* * *

Hey guys!

Here is the long-awaited chapter! The story if finally reaching its climax, and its end.

Funny story- The first chapter of this story was originally published on October 1st, 2015, almost one year ago.

That's when I plan on updating the last chapter of this book.

So expect multiple updates in the next few weeks!

Love y'all guys!


	30. 27- Detours

**_Cress_**

 **I** awoke with a jerk, the small jet hitting the pavement with a thud. I quickly slipped out of the small bunk as soon as the plane slowed to a stop, walking down to the front where everyone was already seated at the table.

"Cress, you're finally awake!" Iko squealed, "Thorne refused to let us wake you up, but we're in England now! A few miles outside of _London_ , can you believe it?"

I blushed a bit when she said the part about Thorne not letting anyone wake me, but sat down by Iko at the table.

Seconds later Jacin entered, looking very tired.

Looking out the window I saw that it was morning here, wow, we were flying for a long time.

"Come on, we're going to have to rest here for a day before the plane arrives for us. We might as well go into the city and get a hotel room so we can rest up and leave first thing tomorrow." Jacin explained, exiting the jet.

We followed Jacin out of the aircraft, sitting at a bench outside of the small building as Jacin and Kai entered, most likely getting a car to drive us into the city. Sure enough, a few minutes later they returned and a black limo came from around the corner.

"Seriously?" Cinder asked, eyeing Kai skeptically.

"Hey, it's the only one we have that'd fit all of us!" he defended himself, causing me to laugh.

I stood, grabbing Thorne's hand to lead him with me.

"Don't be such a pessimist Cinder! It's like we're _real_ celebrities now!" Iko exclaimed, crawling into the vehicle.

"Whatever," Scarlet mumbled as she and Wolf followed her.

Soon enough we were entering the city, pulling up to a small hotel (small meaning big and expensive), where Kai reserved two rooms, "room" as in suit.

"Remind me again why we needed _two_ grand suits, or a grand suit at all?"

A puzzled expression formed on his face, "Why wouldn't we? Don't y'all want separate rooms?"

Cinder facepalmed, and Scaret laughed, Wolf smiling silently behind her.

"Rich kid problems..." Wolf muttered.

"Oh, look who's getting a sense of humor finally!" Thorne teased, causing Wolf to turn as red as a tomato and quiet down.

We went to the rooms, the guys going into theirs and the girls going into ours.

Iko clapped her hands twice, grabbing our attention.

"Okay, we're in London. _We're going shopping._ " she said, more of a statement than a question, meaning one thing — we had no choice in the matter.

Before we even knew what was happening Iko told the guys where we were going, and we were standing in the middle of a huge shopping district.

"Um, Iko?" I asked quietly.

"Hm? What is it Cress?"

"Why are we going shopping in London? I mean, Tokyo and Paris would make sense, but London?"

Iko grabbed my shoulders, shaking me a few times before speaking, "How could you say something like that? It's _London_! _LON-DON!_ "

"R-right!" I shouted, and Iko suddenly stopped, her eyes widening in realization of something.

"OH MY STARS!" she screeched, causing me to step back with my ears covered.

"We need to go to Tokyo, it's the most reasonable place considering it's right be China!"

Scarlet laughed, "How exactly are we supposed to take _that_ detour?"

"We don't have time to play around, Iko," Cinder scowled, staring down cruelly at the girl.

"But _Cinder_!"

"NO." she replied with the force of a mother to disobedient children.

Iko groaned, and didn't bring up anything again for the next several hours of walking around town and just wanting to sleep (we'd only gotten like three or four hours the night before).

"Starbucks!" Iko suddenly shouted, pointing at the small coffee shop on the corner, "Cinder, get us all cotton candy frappuccinos!" she shoved a bunch of money into Cinder's hands, shoving her to the shop and dragging us to a table outside.

Cinder groaned, but went along with it.

"Why did you send her to get coffee, Scarlet-Friend?" Winter asked, and we looked at her quizzically.

Iko peered through the window, turning to face us as she quickly took out her phone, typing in a number.

She whispered several things into the phone, to quick and quiet for me to form any words. After a few minutes she hung up, with a smirk on her face, "Something tells me we'll be heading to Tokyo."

Scarlet face-palmed, " _What did you do?_ "

"Oh," she shrugged, "a girl has her ways."

I narrowed my eyes, "What is it with you and quoting Avatar?"

"Don't question my actions!" she piped cheerily.

Cinder then exited the Starbucks, holding a drink carrier that held four drinks while she had her own in her hand.

"Thank you Cinder!" Iko and Winter squealed, rushing up to the poor girl and grabbing their sweet drinks and rushing off, leaving the rest of us to follow.

* * *

"ARE YOU SERIOUS?" Cinder shrieked when she heard the news.

Levana knew that they were heading directly from England to Beijing, so she was closely surveying all flights — private and public — heading from there to China.

We were going to Tokyo first.

"That's insane! How did she even find o-"

Cinder stopped abruptly, before her gaze slowly drifted from Kai (who delivered the news) to Iko, who was slowly creeping to the door of the guys' suit.

"Iko..."

"Y-Yes, Cinder?"

" _I'm going to freaking kill you._ "

Iko took that as a sign to run, and quickly burst away from the hall door and into the guys' bathroom, locking herself in as Cinder loudly and violently banged on the door.

I sighed, resting my head on Thorne's shoulder, unlike the guys who've had the chance to rest all day, I was dragged along onto an extremely long shopping trip. I felt Thorne tense up slightly, before relaxing. It was warm on the couch be him, and it was a struggle just to keep my eyes open.

Without realizing exactly what was happening, I drifted to sleep, with the slight feeling of arms wrapping around me, as well as a soft, warm blanket.

It was peaceful.

It was like the calm before a storm.

* * *

So there's the chapter!

I literally wrote most of this on a trip to the beach, on the _insanely_ long car drive?

Here you get to see the power of my procrastination in writing! Not wanting the story to end! But the story ending on October 1st!

Hope y'all guys enjoyed!


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